On 26 June 2026, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and the East Asia Foundation co-hosted a session titled “ASEAN between China and the US: What Options Are Available?” at the Jeju Forum for Peace & Prosperity 2026.

Moderated by Hoang Thi Ha of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, the session brought together former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, former Indonesian Foreign Minister and APLN Chair Marty Natalegawa, former South Korean Ambassador to ASEAN Lim Sung-nam, and former Vietnamese diplomat and National Assembly member Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh, who joined virtually.

Moderator Hoang Thi Ha with panellists Kasit Piromya, Marty Natalegawa, and Lim Sung-nam during the session “ASEAN between China and the US: What Options Are Available?” at Jeju Forum 2026.

About the Session

As strategic competition between China and the United States intensifies, ASEAN faces growing pressure to navigate the political, economic, technological, and security consequences of great-power rivalry. The panellists considered how ASEAN and its member states can preserve strategic autonomy, maintain regional cohesion, and advance their interests without being forced into a binary choice.

Moderator Hoang Thi Ha leads the discussion on ASEAN’s options amid intensifying China-US strategic competition.

The discussion examined ASEAN’s role as a platform for inclusive regional dialogue, the relationship between economic interdependence and security, and possible reforms to strengthen the organisation’s effectiveness. While offering different prescriptions, the panellists emphasised the importance of regional agency and a more proactive ASEAN response to the changing strategic environment.

Key Takeaways:

Kasit PIROMYA

Kasit Piromya called for an independent and non-aligned ASEAN that remains open to dialogue with competing regional actors.

Kasit Piromya called for ASEAN to broaden its regional dialogue and engage actors across competing strategic groupings. He argued that ASEAN should use its existing institutions to promote transparency, reduce misunderstandings, and build trust among states and groupings operating in and around Southeast Asia.

He also called for ASEAN to take a more active collective role in advancing nuclear disarmament and strengthening the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone. More broadly, Kasit argued that ASEAN should embrace its identity as a force for peace, drawing on Southeast Asia’s experience of religious and cultural diversity and its established mechanisms for dialogue and peaceful coexistence.

Kasit advocated an independent and non-aligned ASEAN posture. In his view, the organisation should remain open to engagement with all parties and provide a forum in which competing actors can pursue peace, stability, and common prosperity.

Marty NATALEGAWA

Marty Natalegawa emphasised that ASEAN needs its own approach to major-power competition, grounded in inclusion and “dynamic equilibrium.”

Marty Natalegawa argued that ASEAN should not treat its position between China and the United States as a choice between two countries. Instead, the choice concerns ASEAN’s own posture, alignment, and disposition, and whether the organisation can develop an independent approach to managing major-power competition.

Natalegawa advocated a strategy of “dynamic equilibrium” based on inclusion. By bringing a wider range of actors into regional institutions, ASEAN can prevent the China-US relationship from dominating the regional agenda and make itself relevant to both powers.

Drawing on initiatives including the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, the ASEAN Regional Forum, and the East Asia Summit, he highlighted ASEAN’s history of developing inclusive mechanisms for regional cooperation.

On the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, Natalegawa reflected on ASEAN’s unsuccessful attempt in 2012 to secure the simultaneous accession of all nuclear-weapon states to the treaty’s protocol. He advocated a more incremental approach in which individual nuclear-weapon states could join successively, potentially generating momentum for others to follow.

TÔN NỮ THỊ Ninh

 

Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh joined the session virtually and discussed ASEAN’s adaptability amid an increasingly complex geopolitical environment.

Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh described today’s geopolitical environment as more complex and less predictable than the bipolarity of the Cold War. Rather than choosing between China and the United States, she argued that ASEAN should adopt a proactive posture grounded in unity, diversity, adaptability, and consensus.

Citing Vietnam’s “Four Nos” defence policy alongside its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States, she highlighted how ASEAN member states can combine established principles with flexible engagement in response to changing strategic circumstances.

Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh also emphasised that economic and trade relations form an integral part of the contemporary security landscape. Given ASEAN’s extensive economic ties with both China and the United States, managing interdependence and balancing free trade with managed trade are increasingly central to regional resilience.

She maintained that ASEAN remains an indispensable regional platform through which diverse actors can engage, communicate, and manage differences. Its convening role, she argued, cannot readily be replaced by another regional organisation.

LIM Sung Nam

 

Lim Sung-nam outlined institutional reforms to strengthen ASEAN’s continuity, effectiveness, and regional voice.

Lim Sung-nam argued that ASEAN has helped prevent Southeast Asia from becoming more deeply fragmented by China-US strategic competition. Without ASEAN, he suggested, regional divisions and strategic fault lines could have become considerably more pronounced.

To strengthen ASEAN’s relevance and effectiveness, Lim proposed considering a longer chairmanship term to provide greater policy continuity, moving from “mechanical equality” towards “substantive equality” in the distribution of regional assistance, and giving ASEAN a stronger voice on maritime security and freedom of navigation.

Looking ahead, Lim called for deeper strategic dialogue between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea. He also proposed exploring an East Asia Middle Power Caucus that could bring ASEAN together with countries including Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to coordinate more directly on shared regional challenges.

Panellists:

• Moderator: Hoang Thi Ha, Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
• Panellist: Kasit Piromya, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
• Panellist: Marty Natalegawa, Chair of APLN and former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia
• Panellist: Tôn Nữ Thị Ninh, former Vice Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam
• Panellist: Lim Sung-nam, former First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea and former Ambassador to ASEAN

Event Details:

Date: 26 June 2026
Time: 10:20–11:40 KST
Venue: Haevichi Hotel & Resort, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea