THE JAKARTA POST – APLN chair Marty Natalegawa, quoted in the Jakarta post on 21 September 2021 in the article, “Australia seeks to reassure ASEAN after AUKUS gambit.”

Australia on Monday sought to reassure 10-nation ASEAN that its new partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom is “not a defense alliance or pact”, as the bloc grows increasingly uncomfortable over the prospect of a more aggressive great power rivalry in its backyard. ASEAN effectively acts as a buffer separating Australia and China and helps maintain peace and stability in the region, although Beijing’s swift rise as a superpower is seen as a threat to the US and its allies. At the same time, China’s increased militarization in the South China Sea has long stirred tensions with several ASEAN member states that reject its sweeping claim over the globally important and busy sea trade route. However, last week’s announcement that Canberra would be acquiring nuclear-powered submarines through its new AUKUS trilate… Read more (paywall).

This article was published in the Jakarta Post here: https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2021/09/21/oz-seeks-to-reassure-asean-after-aukus-gambit.html.

You can also read his view in the special APLN series on Asia Pacific perspectives on AUKUS.

Header image: RAN