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  • The ASEAN, China, USA Triangle: Navigating in a Post-Ukraine/Russia World (2 Seminars)
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Venue
Zoom
Start
15 June 2022 (Wednesday)
End
16 June 2022 (Thursday)

Joint Virtual Symposium 2022
US-Asia Law Institute, NYU and Centre for International Law, NUS

Session 1: Wed, 15 June 2022, 0930–1130 SGT / 0330–0530 CET / Tue 14 June 2130–2330 EST
Session 2: Thu, 16 June 2022, 2100–2230 SGT / 1500–1630 CET / 0900 to 1030 EST
** Please note the date/time zone for each session.

The Centre for International Law at NUS (CIL) and the US-Asia Law Institute at NYU (USALI) collaborated on a symposium which examined some critical dimensions of the current status and future challenges of the relationships within this ‘triangle ‘of ASEAN, China, and the United States as well as vis-à-vis the interactions with other interlocutory powers such as Japan. The recent geopolitical earthquake precipitated by events in the Ukraine have rendered an already complex situation even more so.

The symposium comprises a session (between 1.5 to 2 hours) on Day 1 (economic and trade relations) and Day 2 (geopolitical issues generally and security more specifically).

SESSION 1: Economic Challenges Facing ASEAN    

Trade has for some time been recognized as a major strategic parameter in international relations. China and the United States – the two remaining superpowers – are, alongside the EU, economic ‘giants’ that have had for some time now a fraught relationship of both rivalry and co-dependence. ASEAN has, in some respects at least, found itself caught in the middle, having not only to walk a delicate diplomatic tightrope but having perhaps a ‘bridging’ role in maintaining international stability essential for the well-being of all stakeholders.

The symposium opened with a keynote speech by the esteemed Professor Tommy Koh (Singapore’s former Permanent Representative to the UN in New York and former Ambassador to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico). 

This was followed by a discussion that attempted to disentangle the complex relationships as well as highlighted the challenges and potentials which face ASEAN. Moderated by Professor Joseph Weiler, the distinguished panel comprises:

  • Elizabeth Chelliah, Principal Trade Specialist, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore
  • Dr Deborah Elms, Founder and Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre; President of the Asia Business Trade Association
  • Professor Wang Jiangyu, Professor at the School of Law; Director of the Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law, City University of Hong Kong

 

SESSION 2: Geo-Political Challenges Facing ASEAN    

Throughout its history, ASEAN has been diplomatically adept in refusing to take sides on a wide range of geo-political issues that divide the US and its allies in the Global North (like Japan) and China and its allies (including many in the Global South).  Since February 2022, as demonstrated by votes at the UN General Assembly and virtually daily announcements from governments in response to Ukraine’s pleas for assistance, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been pressuring states to “take sides” in a renewed Cold – and possibly hot – global war.  How does the new world disorder affect ASEAN’s diplomatic stance – and its security goals and strategies?

This event consists of an engaged conversation, featuring Q and A posed by its interlocutor, Professor José E. Alvarez, and the following distinguished panelists: