Comprising 10 countries in Southeast Asia, ASEAN is a regional union that seeks to promote intergovernmental cooperation and facilitate integration on multiple fronts – whether that be economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural. Founded in 1967, ASEAN seeks to ensure the prosperity of Southeast Asian Nations and defend the community of nations from external threats that jeopardize their peace.

Amidst rising tensions in the South China Sea, ASEAN member states must collaborate to meet China's unprecedented assertions in the region, whether they be its increased naval maneuvers and exercises in the South China Sea or its rapid construction of artificial islands in disputed waters. China is actively defending their sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea – the sea that contains approximately 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Additionally, its installations of ports, military posts, and airstrips particularly in the contested Paracel and Spratly Islands has caused even greater anxiety within the region and abroad. Not only has Chinese aggression in the region antagonized competing claimants Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; it has also drawn in the United States, which seeks to counter Chinese hegemony by bolstering its support for Southeast Asian states and increasing its own naval presence. 

With heavy economic interests at play and longstanding territorial claims on the line, countries respond to the encroachment of their sea by their neighbouring superpower while resisting mounting political pressure and escalating military provocation. At this ASEAN Summit, member states will have to navigate how to combat Chinese military aggression and defend their economic priorities – all without risking the breakout of a forceful confrontation.

The Dais is excited to meet all of the delegates at SSUNS 2021!

If you have any questions regarding the committee, please feel free to email us at sa@ssuns.org