Southeast Asia lacks unity required for ‘Asian Nato’, Philippines defence chief says

A security grouping in Southeast Asia similar to Nato is not possible at present given diverging interests and alliances in the region, according to the Philippines’ defence chief.

Asked about the prospect of an equivalent to the transatlantic security alliance in Southeast Asia, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told a security forum on Tuesday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ complex “dichotomies and divergence in country interests” would make it challenging to set up a unified military alliance.

“For example, we have a pre-Asean defence alliance with the United States. We continue to build alliances with like-minded countries,” he said in a security forum in Manila. “Other Asean countries have built alliances with China.”

The remarks come after Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, before taking office, had floated the idea of establishing an “Asian Nato”, a proposal that has gained no traction and was rejected by the United States and India.

Japan’s foreign minister later said such an idea was not aimed at countering a specific country, when asked if it had China in mind.

Teodoro said he would rather Asean recognised that China was “overstepping” in the South China Sea. There have been recent clashes over territorial claims with the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

China and US ally the Philippines have been at loggerheads over a series of confrontations near disputed areas in the South China Sea. Manila has accused China’s coastguard of aggression and Beijing has said it is responding to what it calls repeated provocations and territorial incursions.