October 14, 2021

The new tripartite defense alliance AUKUS, formed with the intention of intimidating China, will strain ASEAN's unity and integration as regional countries are divided over the pact, experts said Wednesday, noting that if it sparks an arms race, it threatens to destabilize the region. 

Faced with the looming danger of geopolitical imbalance and being dragged into unpleasant position of choosing between two superpowers, ASEAN members are eager to reach a consensus on how to deal with the pact. Yet experts said that no matter what position the bloc chooses to take collectively, it will gradually see the US, the culprit of breaking the regional balance, as a "major troublemaker." It should dawn on Washington that the bickering and divergence over AUKUS indicates how difficult and na?ve it is to form an alliance in the region against China. 

Speaking at the Sixth Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia via video link on Tuesday, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Asian countries to "see through the nature of the AUKUS trilateral security partnership and the US Indo-Pacific Strategy and jointly oppose any attempt that violates the common will of regional countries and sabotages regional peace and stability."

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