China–ASEAN Maritime Drills: How did it come to this?
By Aditya Vijay* In February of 2018, the military leaders of China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Singapore and revealed plans to hold two joint military drills later this year, supposedly in October and November. This development perplexed many foreign policy experts and analysts. No one could decipher the motives of the ASEAN countries in agreeing to hold maritime drills with what many members of the association consider the primary aggressor in the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei have territorial claims in the South China Sea, which directly conflict with Beijing ’ s claims. This then begs the question as to why the regional bloc would allow military cooperation with Beijing, when competing strategic interests are at stake. A possible answer may be found through a closer inspection of China ’ s economic ties and investments in ASEAN. China has been ASEAN ’ s largest trading partner for...