SUMMARY
There is one thing that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can agree on at any given time: the importance of ASEAN centrality, or the notion that the bloc must be the “dominant regional platform to overcome common challenges and engage with external powers.”
And there’s another thing the 10 members can agree on: that a “peaceful, friendly and harmonious environment” must be promoted in the South China Sea.
But it’s on the details – such as how those aspirations can be met – that members sometimes disagree on.
That ASEAN members differ, for instance, over how they deal with superpower China, is no secret.
But those differences were thrust in the spotlight in the first week of March, as Melbourne hosted ASEAN leaders in a special summit to commemorate 50 years…