Thayer Consultancy Background Brief:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Carlyle A. Thayer
China’s Defence Minister
Visits Southeast Asia
September 12, 2020

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is currently visiting four countries in Southeast
Asia. His visit takes place in the context of a resumption in negotiations between China
and ASEAN members on a South China Sea Code of Conduct. Recently China’s foreign
minister visited some key EU countries and his message not to lean towards the United
States likely will be conveyed by Defence Minister Wei during his stops in Malaysia
and Indonesia, two countries that submitted Notes Verbales to the Commission on
the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
We request your assessment of Wei Fenghe’s current visit to Southeast Asia.
ANSWER: China is playing catch up diplomacy in Southeast Asia after four regional
states challenged the legal basis of China’s claims in the South China Sea and the
United States unleased a political campaign to create an anti-Communist Party of
China (CPC) coalition of states.
China dispatched State Councilor and Defence Minister Wei Fenghe to Malaysia,
Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines for three main reasons: (1) to counter U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s call for an anti-CPC coalition, (2) to promote
bilateral defence ties, and (3) and to reassure South China Sea littoral states of China’s
peaceful intentions. Wei’s trip (7-11 September) came on the eve of and overlapped
the 53rd ASEAN foreign ministers’ ministerial and related meetings (9-12 September).
With the exception of Indonesia, Minister Wei met with both heads of government
and his counterpart defence ministers in Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. Wei did
not meet with Indonesia’s President Jokowi.
Wei’s first stop was Kuala Lumpur where he was received by Malaysia’s Prime Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin and Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Three major issues were
raised: cooperation to combat COVID-19, strengthening defence cooperation, and the
South China Sea. Wei declared that China is willing to work with ASEAN members “to
meet each other halfway.” Information about Wei’s meetings was tightly held in
accord with Malaysia’s low-key diplomatic style.
No mention was made of the fact that in July Malaysia’s Auditor-General revealed that
Chinese ships entered Malaysian waters eighty-nine times from 2016 to 2019 and that
since 31 July a China Coast Guard ship was still patrolling in Malaysian waters.
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Minister Wei then flew to Jakarta where he met his counterpart Prabowo Subianto.
Indonesia portrayed Wei’s visit as a reciprocal one following Subianto’s trip to China
late last year. Once again, Wei focused on three topics: COVID-19 cooperation,
bilateral defence relations, and the South China Sea. Wei drew attention to “the
important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries” and
suggested advancing bilateral relations “by strengthening strategic communication
and enhancing defence and security cooperation.” On the South China Sea, Wei
promoted “intense dialogue.”
Minister Wei’s third stop was in Brunei where he met with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah
and Second Defence Minister Haji Awang Halbi. Wei’s exchange of views with the
Sultan touched on general areas such as “exchanges and cooperation… in the fields of
defence, economy, trade, energy and culture as well as people to people exchanges.”
The two defence ministers reached agreement on “maintaining strategic
communication and deepening military exchanges and cooperation.”
Minister Wei’s last stop was Manila where he met Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
first before paying a courtesy call on President Rodrigo Duterte. Wei stuck to his three-
point agenda – COVID-19 cooperation, bilateral defence cooperation, and the South
China Sea.
Both defence ministers agreed to update the 2004 Memorandum of Understanding
on Defence Cooperation to provide for “more personnel exchanges, training, and
better communications channels.” The two ministers also signed a minute on China’s
donation of $20 million in equipment for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The South China Sea proved to be a contentious issue. The Philippine Defense
Department issued a press release following the meeting between the two ministers
in which Lorenzana is quoted affirming his government’s commitment to the
“enforcement [of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal award] without any possibility of
compromise or change” and asserting that the Armed Forces of the Philippines would
continue “to conduct routine, legitimate maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea
and challenge any activities that infringe on Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights
and jurisdiction.”
Shortly after the press release was rescinded and a new press release was issued that
dropped all references to the 2016 award, maritime patrols and sovereignty. The
second press release now reported that the two ministers discussed “how to avoid
misunderstanding and to resolve differences amicably” over the South China Sea and
the “early conclusion of a code of conduct.”
Defence Minister Wei’s itinerary did not include Vietnam. It should be recalled that
Minister Wei and his Vietnamese counterpart, General Ngo Xuan Lich, last spoke by
telephone on 29 April to discuss their efforts to prevent and control COVID-19.
Defence Minister Wei met with Pham Sao Mai, Vietnam’s Ambassador to China, on 31
August in Beijing. Wei noted that “bilateral relations have maintained stable
development” and “China is prepared to strengthen solidarity and deepen
cooperation with Vietnam to handle differences appropriately and jointly oppose
hegemonism, interventionism and unilateralism”, a veiled reference to the United
States.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh
Minh, on 23 August in Dongxing, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Zone, to mark the
twentieth anniversary of the agreement to demarcate their land border and the tenth
anniversary of the erection of border markers.
Defence Minister’s Wei’s recent visit to Southeast Asia demonstrates two points. First,
China is willing to engage ASEAN member states at a high-level. Second, none of the
ASEAN littoral states will take sides between the United States and China. These states
will continue to engage with China to combat the coronavirus, develop bilateral
defence relations, and continue negotiations on a South China Sea Code of Conduct.
ASEAN states harbour disquiet about Chinese intimidation and bullying and view the
U.S. as the only power that can counter-balance China in the region As Vietnam’s
Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh put it, “We welcome the U.S.’s constructive and
responsive contributions to ASEAN’s efforts to maintaining the peace, stability and
development in the South China Sea.”
The ball is now in the U.S. court to demonstrate that Washington will remain
committed to security and stability in Southeast Asia on a long-term basis. ASEAN
members will have to wait until after 3 November to find out if the next U.S President
Trump or Biden – is willing to make that assurance.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “China’s Defence Minister Visits Southeast Asia,”
Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, September 12, 2020. All background briefs are
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.