Intimacy with ASEAN not a choice but a necessity

IT is wrong to suggest Australia has to choose between the US alliance and collaborating with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We can do both, but the trick lies in how we manage that.

Greater engagement with Southeast Asia would augment our relationship with the US and China. It is through ASEAN that Australia can secure its place in Asia, in the Asian Century.

There has been too much speculating in the past year about Australia having to choose between the US and China. It is time to focus on our relationship with that part of Asia closest to us: Southeast Asia. The US expects this of us. An Australia working with ASEAN is a more useful ally, and we also gain respect in Beijing, Tokyo and New Delhi.

Apart from deepening our trade and investment links, we need to get into the habit of co-operating intimately with Southeast Asian countries. There are no downsides. On the other hand, the prospect of being at odds with our region - clashing over security or economic objectives - could not be more daunting. Supporting Australia against an ASEAN country would probably not be in America's interest. The US pivot is about developing co-operation with growing Asian nations.

It is extraordinary that the Asia Century white paper gives so little attention to ASEAN, though Foreign Minister Bob Carr has been skilful in countering this neglect. The ASEAN relationship is vital for Australia's wider international positioning. Our economic interaction with Southeast Asia is already vast. It has a population larger than the EU and some of its economies, such as those of Indonesia and The Philippines, are beginning to rival Australia's. Yes, we do more trade with China, but the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Asialink Index of Australia-Asia engagement puts total trade with ASEAN ahead of our trade with Japan, and at more than four times the size of our trade with India.

Enhancing our relationship with Southeast Asia gives us two advantages. The region's leadership recognises that we have something to offer economically and that we may be able to help in the complex strategic evolution taking place. Second, in Southeast Asia, more than any other part of Asia, we already have a positive track record from its post-World War II beginnings, as colonial powers were retreating and Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaya and other new nation-states were under construction.

In relative terms Australia was a stronger nation then than we are today and both sides of Australian politics gave priority to Southeast Asia and the development of a new regional order. The Colombo Plan and early support of ASEAN are not the only Australian contributions that are recalled. We often overlook the relationship-building role of our military.

Australians tend to be wary of overreach. We are proud of our contributions to the evolution of the UN and of our recent success with the Security Council. But the Australian contribution to the creation of modern Cambodia was concrete and won international respect. Working with ASEAN countries to create the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Bali Process, and bringing stability to Timor are specifically Australian achievements. The decision to join the ASEAN-led East Asia Summit before the US was a member was an example of independent Australian diplomacy. In the EAS we have an opportunity to collaborate with Southeast Asian countries in a way that can help to moderate dangerous rivalries between the US and China, or China and Japan.

The Asia Century white paper, for all its strengths, concentrates on opportunities rather than risks and suggests that "cultural diversity is at the centre of Australia's identity". This is not how the region sees Australia. We are a Western country, with Western institutions and dominant values that are largely British. That is why we needed a white paper, and why it is so vital to get things right with our region.

The recent AUSMIN talks were grounded in six decades of an alliance we value. But from a long-term perspective, and probably also from an American point of view, what matters most of all is this weak's EAS. AUSMIN got more attention in the Australian media, but it is at the EAS that we have the opportunity to be seen working with ASEAN countries and not merely caucusing with the US. In that way we have a chance to do something tangible to secure our future in this Asian Century.

Tony Milner is Asialink's international director. His co-authored report Our Place in the Asian Century: Southeast Asia as the Third Way will be released on November 29.