VietNamNet Bridge - The U.S. effort to build the image of a ‘benevolent hegemony’ has helped it achieve soft power, thereby balancing the "hard power" of China in Southeast Asia, said Dr. Le Hong Hiep.

On February 15 (US time), Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and top leaders of other ASEAN countries began the historic meeting with US President Barack Obama at Sunnyland, California, the US, where they will discuss economic cooperation, maritime security and other important issues.

Sunnylands is also the place where Obama met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 during an unofficial visit.

VietNamNet talked with Dr. Le Hong Hiep, a guest researcher for the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore) and a lecturer at the International Relations Faculty of the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, about the event.

Q: International observers said that the US - ASEAN Summit in Sunnylands is a historic event. Actually, this is the fourth summit. In your opinion, what makes this meeting a historic event?

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: The two-day US-ASEAN Summit at Sunnylands has historic significance because this is the first time the summit is held in the US, not in Southeast Asia.

As it takes place in the US, this is also the first time the summit is held as a separate event, not a sideline event chaired by ASEAN as in the past.

The US-ASEAN Summit this time shows that the US attaches great importance to the role of ASEAN countries. Specifically, before this meeting takes place, the US and ASEAN signed the agreement establishing their strategic partnership in Kuala Lumpur last November.

The US is also one of the first powers appointing a permanent ambassador to ASEAN, and Obama is the US President who has paid the most visits to Southeast Asian countries during his tenure. So far he has visited seven countries, and in the future this number will increase to nine because he will visit Vietnam and Laos before the end of his term. The US has recently welcomed many Southeast Asian leaders, the most recent visits were made by the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

It would be said that the summit at Sunnylands is the new pinnacle of the US-ASEAN relations, marking an unprecedented closeness in the relationship between the US and ASEAN as well as between the US and ASEAN member countries.

Q: The US and ASEAN upgraded their relationship to the strategic partnership in late 2015. What is the meaning of this summit to the US-ASEAN relationship?

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: The upgrade of the US and ASEAN ties to the strategic partnership is an important step in the development of bilateral relations, promising to go beyond symbolism to create legal foundations for the solid and real development of the bilateral ties.

This is not the first time ASEAN signed a strategic partnership agreement with a power, but in the context of the US' implementation of the regional rebalancing policy, this may be considered a positive response of ASEAN to this policy, and so can be considered a success for the US.

The US-ASEAN Summit at Sunnylands is the first major operation to concretize this agreement.

Moreover, the meeting venue at Sunnylands, where President Obama met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, also carries a certain symbolic significance, as it implies that the US considers the strategic partnership with ASEAN equally important to its relations with China.

Q: ASEAN member states are different in political models, cultures and they also have a lot of divergences. In this context, how should America behave to keep the balance?

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: ASEAN is a community of diverse countries, so the existence of certain divergences between them is unavoidable. However, it is important that these countries have agreed to cooperate together through a common framework, which is ASEAN. ASEAN helps them hold back divergences, while improving the bargaining position of all members in relation to the stronger powers outside.

In this context, to maintain its influence and its position in the region, the US needs to work with ASEAN as a regional organization, while focusing on developing relationships with each state member.

The US has carried out this policy well. Besides the countries that have already had good relations with the US, America has sought to improve relations with Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos..., which still have many obstacles in relations with it.

In the coming time, the relations between the US and its traditional ally – Thailand - will likely improve when Thailand returns to democratic politics, or if the US will less criticize the military government of this country. Once the US has good relations with all countries in the bloc, the gap between these countries when considering the policies with the US' support will be narrowed.

Q: Recently security in the region has become more complicated along with the stronger involvement of major powers. What should the ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular do to keep balance and not fall into the spiral of power competition among the major powers?

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: World politics is always a playing field on which the great powers compete for influence. Southeast Asia is the place associated with the interests of many great powers, especially the US and China, so this region cannot avoid the involvement and competition for influence of these major powers.

The competition among powers helps ASEAN countries enhance their position and bargaining power. ASEAN countries can take advantage of the competition to obtain economic or strategic benefits. However, they can also face the risk of being drawn into the confrontation between the major powers, their autonomy may be weakened and they can become victims of competition for power among the giants.

To avoid falling into this trap, ASEAN countries must keep the balance, independence, and their initiative in their policies with the two powers.

They also need to be involved with the two powers through the mechanisms that take ASEAN as the center. ASEAN countries have repeatedly emphasized that they do not want to choose one of the two sides, because they need both. The powers themselves also understand this, and despite their efforts, they could hardly force the countries in the region to lean heavily on their side.

However, the balance of influence can still move more or less in the given range, depending on the perception of each nation on the benefits and threats that each power can bring to them. In this respect, the US appears to have advantages over China.

Q: As you know, China has always used the economic card to entice other countries and this is proven to be effective. Meanwhile, the US prefers security support. What do you think about the US-China balance of power in Southeast Asia at present?

Top leaders of the US and ASEAN countries at the meeting in California. Photo: Reuters

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: China is using the economic carrot to buy political influence, while the US does not have such tools to offer to the countries in the region.

China has achieved certain success with this policy when there are a few countries in the region tend to be in favor of China. These countries are very pragmatic. They want to take advantage of the "generosity" of China to serve their development purpose. No one can blame them, because that is how they define their national interests.

However, this approach of China may be unsustainable. Firstly, the financial resources of China will be stretched and gradually depleted, especially if they cannot solve the problems of their economy. Secondly, economic benefits can be important, but it will not be as important as strategic interests.

Economic and financial measures can bring them temporary influence, but in the long term, these impacts can be eliminated if these countries perceive China as a threat in terms of strategy. The increasing suspicion of these countries against China due to China's acts in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) is a good example.

Recently, a few countries in the region which used to be in the orbit of China have adjusted their policies to gradually get rid of dependence on Beijing, even inclined to America more or less.

The US does not have money to generously give to the countries in the region but this country has its own appeal in other aspects. That's a huge market and private investment resources (US investment in ASEAN is a dozen times higher than that of China), and a source of modern technology, which all countries in the region need.

Moreover, the US has successfully maintained its "moral stance" as the country that helps ensure peace, stability and order in the region for decades, and the US itself is not regarded as a threat for the sovereignty and security of countries in the region. In other words, the US' effort to build the image of a "benevolent hegemony" has helped it get the soft power, a natural attraction, thereby balancing the "hard power" of China in the region.

Q: Everyone knows that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is seen as Washington’s economic weapon to confront Beijing in Southeast Asia. Do you think that the TPP can create a pedal for the US to fight back with ambitious China?

Dr. Le Hong Hiep: TPP is an economic initiative, but behind is an important strategic purpose. The TPP is a complement to Washington’s military rebalancing policy, thereby forming a pincer strategy, gradually tightening the comprehensive relationship between the US and the countries in the region, through which helping the US win initiative in response to the rise of China.

The importance of the TPP depends on how it is implemented in the future. Also, if TPP accepts other countries while continuing to exclude China, its strategic focus will be increasingly shown.

However, TPP alone is not enough to help the US prevent China's ambitions.

Unlike the former Soviet Union, a country which essentially "hindered" itself when pursuing a closed planning economic model, China is an open economy, with the deep and wide integration into the world, including the mechanisms outside the TPP. So, even if it is not a member of the TPP, China can still continue to grow if they can solve their inner problems.

In other words, the TPP is just one tool in the strategic tool bag of the US. The US will use it wisely, in combination with other tools, especially in terms of military and strategy, to be able to cope with the ambitions of China.

It should be said that the US - China competition is long and interesting, with many characteristics that have never seen in the history of competition among powers in the world. This competition deserves attention and close monitoring of the policy makers of the countries in the region and Vietnam, at present and in the future.

Thank you Dr. Le Hong Hiep for taking your time with us!

Thu Ha from Sunnylands, California, USA