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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
May 20, 2025 | 5:58pm
MANILA, Philippines — A high-level ASEAN maritime security dialogue will open in Manila on Wednesday, May 21, that aims to produce "actionable recommendations" on a long-standing question: how can Southeast Asian nations protect their maritime interests without being caught between world powers?
The three-day event at Conrad Manila will gather representatives from all ten ASEAN member states, including coast guard officials from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, alongside regional experts and marine scientists.
Notably absent will be representatives from China and the United States — a deliberate choice by organizers.
"What we want to highlight here is that this is a dialogue without great powers," said Jeffrey Ordaniel, president of the non-government organization We Protect our Seas (WPS), during a press conference with the Philippine Coast Guard on Tuesday, May 20.
"It's just all 10 ASEAN member states coming together to discuss where we stand on issues without the influence of any great power and in pursuit of our strategic autonomy," Ordaniel added.
The event is what organizers call a track 1.5 dialogue, which includes both government officials and non-governmental experts. Many of the officials will be participating in their private capacities rather than as formal representatives of their governments.
"Our main goal is to generate actionable recommendations to promote cooperation between and among the members of ASEAN," Ordaniel said.
Ordaniel said participants are expected to discuss not only South China Sea issues but also other maritime security concerns, including fishery management, marine environmental protection and marine scientific research.
'Don't make us choose'
The dialogue was organized following observations from last year's Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea, where Ordaniel noted "the prevalence of the 'do not make us choose' narrative" among Southeast Asian nations.
"We thought maybe we need to create a dialogue that would serve as a Sherpa to the Manila Dialogue that will sort of shape the agenda for the bigger dialogue in November," Ordaniel explained.
A key focus will be examining what exactly Southeast Asian nations mean by "strategic autonomy" and the "do not make us choose" position that many have adopted in navigating tensions between China and the United States.
"When we talk about the South China Sea, the Philippine government broadly is interested in advancing a rules-based maritime order. But for some reason, that may be interpreted as siding with one power over the other," Ordaniel said.
No unified ASEAN stance on maritime disputes
Despite the gathering of all ASEAN members, De La Salle University professor Renato de Castro cautioned against expecting a unified regional position to emerge.
"There's actually no ASEAN position regarding the South China Sea. Of course it has something to do with interests, national interests," De Castro said during the same briefing.
"The continental Southeast Asian states like Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia couldn't care less about the South China Sea issue. And of course even among the states that are littoral, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, although we have claims, we also have our own problems," he added.
Rather than seeking consensus, De Castro suggested the dialogue would provide ASEAN member states an opportunity to express their views on the issue.
De Castro noted that while the regional bloc may not have a shared stance on the South China Sea disputes, "one key perspective that all ASEAN member states agree on is the fact that the South China Sea issue should be out of the great power competition."
Ordaniel highlighted that transparency at sea is expected to be a major focus of the dialogue, citing current confusion surrounding the origins of marine environmental degradation and the collapse of fisheries and fish stocks.
"Transparency is not just exposing bad behavior at sea, but also exposing the true sources of threats, of tensions, of marine environmental destruction, of all of these things that we need cooperation to address," Ordaniel said.
The dialogue will be held from May 20 to May 23.
The full list of speakers and activities during the three-day event can be accessed on the website of the Dialogue on ASEAN maritime security.
