Straits Times:
Singapore, which is the current country coordinator for Asean-China Dialogue Relations, was prepared for differences in opinion between the 10-member South-east Asia grouping and China, it is understood.
Asean showed China its agreed text and the Chinese showed Asean theirs, with Asean prepared to say its piece and letting China say its piece.
However, China pressured its friends among Asean members to speak on its behalf, with the result that there was no Asean consensus on the statement, The Straits Times has learnt.http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-sought-to-divide-asean-with-its-own-10-point-consensus-at-foreign-minister-meet
WPR on the growing French stake in becoming the Indo-Pacific's go-to for armory:
The Asia-Pacific market is not a new one for the French defense industry, which, since the 1980s, has sold major equipment to India, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan, among others. But the market is growing. From 2010 to 2015, defense deals with the region made up 23.5 percent of the total amount of orders abroad. Although Canberra’s choice of French submarines was primarily based on technical and operational criteria, its decision took place in the context of a growing bilateral relationship, based in particular on common interests in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, and the existence of partnerships on both sides with Japan and India. Expect maritime cooperation between France and Australia in both the South Pacific and Indian Ocean to be taken to a new level. These growing ties with Australia reflect France’s outreach to the Asia-Pacific more broadly. That builds on the White Papers on National Defense and Security published in 2008 and 2013, which acknowledged and asserted French interests in the region, much more than the previous 1994 White Paper did. The Defense Ministry followed up with its own documents explaining French policy in the region.
It isn’t hard to see what’s behind French interests in the Asia-Pacific. A number of French overseas territories with various statuses are located in the region. Along with France’s other possessions in the Western Atlantic, they give France the second-largest maritime domain in the world. These include Mayotte and La Reunion Island in the Southern Indian Ocean, where France has stationed, among other assets, 1,900 personnel and five ships; New Caledonia, with 1,800 personnel and four ships; Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and Clipperton in the Southern Pacific Ocean, with 1,000 personnel and three ships among them; as well as a number of other possessions forming the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. If current French claims are upheld for the extension of its sovereign rights over continental shelves, based on the implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), France’s maritime domain would become the world’s largest.
Indian Express on Growing Ties with Thailand:
“Thailand is an extremely important partner and the two sides attach a lot of importance to this visit,” India’s Ambassador to Thailand Bhagwant Bishnoi told PTI. Noting that India’s ‘Act East’ and Thailand’s ‘Look West’ policies were complementary to each other, Bishnoi said India was looking forward to signing several agreements, MoUs on narcotics, cultural exchange with Thailand during the visit.
A Thailand-India Free Trade Agreement will be discussed. “We are looking forward to a substantial joint statement which would talk of other agreements in the pipeline,” Bishnoi said, and added that Thailand is also keen on India’s ‘Make in India’ programme. He said India appreciated the fact that Thailand was “very sensitive” to India’s security concerns and ensured that Thai territory was not used by forces inimical to India. The Thai delegation will discuss cultural links by travelling to Bodh Gaya for prayers.
Inquirer on Duterte's balancing act between US and China:
Duterte has pledged a foreign policy free of America and a new relationship with China to promote the Philippine interests. The marching orders of incoming Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. are to reopen bilateral talks with China to settle the maritime feud once it ignores the UN tribunal’s decision. But Yasay also said treaties with the United States will be honored subject to future renegotiation.
These antithetical approaches to China and America need to be harmonized in a new foreign policy. Duterte faces a catch-22 situation: talking to China while treaty commitments push him into a showdown with it once America uses the alliance system and coercive measures to compel compliance with a UN decision that may be unfavorable to China. Duterte may need to calibrate as to whether to work with America by taking tough actions against China. But can he stop the Americans from using military facilities in the Philippines when push comes to shove?
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