Teodoro: NATO-type ASEAN security group not possible at this time

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Tuesday said it is not possible for Southeast Asian nations to form a security group like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at this time.

“A NATO-type ASEAN, I don't think it is possible at this time because of the dichotomies and divergence between country interests,” Teodoro said in a security forum.

Teodoro pointed out that the Philippines had a defense alliance with the United States before ASEAN, while other Southeast Asian countries had alliances with China.

“For example, us, we've had a pre-ASEAN defense alliance with the United States. We continue to build alliances with like-minded countries,” Teodoro said.

“Other ASEAN countries have built alliances with China. So, having an armed enforcement mechanism for ASEAN may be far between,” he added.

NATO is a political and military alliance of countries from Europe and North America where its members are committed to protecting each other from any threat.

“How can you have an ASEAN NATO, for example, when on the other hand, Indonesia, which is our friend and ally, are having naval exercises with Russia?” Teodoro said.

“So, it's not yet in that state. I do not know if it will evolve into more cohesion insofar as security interests are concerned,” he added.

First step

However, Teodoro noted that the Philippines getting support from other ASEAN countries with its issues with China in connection with the West Philippine Sea is a “good first step.”

“Getting some principles put in or some reactions regarding the expansive activities and admittedly illegal activities of China in the South China Sea is a good first step,” Teodoro said.

“And that's what we should be focusing and what we should be working on. And then let's see where it goes,” he added.

Tensions continue as Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea— a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce— including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has not recognized the decision.

—VAL, GMA Integrated News