Thayer Consultancy Background Brief:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Vietnam as ASEAN Chair and
ASEAN’s 37th Summit
Carlyle A. Thayer
November 12, 2020

We request your assessment regarding Vietnam’s role as ASEAN Chair in 2020 and the
working agenda of the 37th ASEAN Summit.
Question 1: Could you provide an assessment about Vietnam’s ASEAN chairmanship
in 2020?
ANSWER: When Vietnam assumed the ASEAN Chair it set itself five major objectives:
strengthening of ASEAN unity and solidarity; intensifying ASEAN’s economic
integration and connectivity; promoting ASEAN identity and awareness; enhancing
ASEAN’s global partnership for peace, stability and sustainable development; and
increasing ASEAN’s institutional capacity and effectiveness.
Vietnam began its tenure as ASEAN Chair in January and began convening meetings
according to ASEAN’s Calendar for 2020, such as the ASEAN Defence Minister’s
Meeting. Then the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Southeast Asia and Vietnam had to
quickly pivot from ‘business as usual’ to crisis management. Containing and defeating
Covid-19 became Vietnam’s top priority. ASEAN hosts over a 1,000 face-to-face
meetings a year, many had to be held as video conferences and other had to be
cancelled.
One major ASEAN success was Vietnam’s leadership in obtaining consensus on how to
respond to major power rivalry. On ASEAN’s fifty-third anniversary the ASEAN Foreign
Ministers’ Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Peace and Stability in
Southeast Asia was released. This statement reaffirmed ASEAN centrality and the role
of ASEAN-led mechanisms in the region’s security architecture as the means to
mitigate the risk of China-US strategic rivalry and the uncertainly of America’s current
political transition.
Question 2: What has Vietnam as the ASEAN 2020 Chair done to contribute to a
Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN in line with ASEAN’s theme for 2020?
ANSWER: Responding to the threat of the coronavirus and preparing for a post-COVID
recovery became Vietnam’s first priority as ASEAN Chair. Vietnam immediately
convened virtual meetings of public health officials by pioneering the use of video
conferencing. Vietnam then convened a Special Summit on the COVID-19 Disease and
ASEAN’s 36th Summit. At the same time Vietnam enlisted the support of ASEAN’s
dialogue partners.
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Under Vietnam’s leadership, ASEAN responded to the coronavirus on a region-wide

basis strengthening cooperation between public health officials and involving the
military in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on their societies. In sum, Vietnam
demonstrated the theme of a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN by practical deeds. For
example, the three ASEAN Community Councils have been tasked to submit a
comprehensive whole-of-ASEAN-community post-coronavirus recovery plan that will
deal with the resumption of business travel, supply chain connectivity, and
distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine on a regional basis.
Question 3: One of the priorities of ASEAN 2020 proposed by Vietnam was to enhance
the capacity and operational efficiency of ASEAN. Do you think ASEAN’s virtual
meetings presided over by Vietnam amidst COVID-19, including the forthcoming 37th
ASEAN Summit and related meetings, reflect the aforementioned priority? What do
you think about the efficiency of ASEAN virtual meetings so far?
ANSWER: There is an American expression that “necessity is the mother of invention.”
The coronavirus meant that ASEAN face-to-face meeting could not take place because
of health concerns. Many – but not all – of ASEAN’s scheduled meetings took place via
video conference. These meetings were conducted in a business-like fashion but at
the cost of personal interaction.
Under Vietnam’s leadership the 37th ASEAN Summit will receive and make
recommendations on:
• the ASEAN Secretariat’s review of the ASEAN Charter and assessment of the
functions of ASEAN’s institutional structure and the application of relevant rules
and procedures;
• the mid-term reviews of ASEAN Community Blueprints 2025 and a final ASEAN
Community Vision 2025;
• the Initiative of ASEAN Integration new Work Plan for 2021-25 and the Master Plan
for ASEAN Connectivity;
• the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Cybersecurity
(ASEAN-Cyber CC); and
• progress on final agreement of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
with a view to signing it by the end of the year.
In addition, the ASEAN Summit will give direction on five other issues: (1) a needs
assessment for the repatriation of displaced Rohingya for their return to Myanmar,
(2) Timor-Leste’s application for membership, (3) support for the denuclearisation of
the Korean peninsula, (4) endorse progress of the Code of Conduct in the South China
Sea; and (5) enhanced relations with dialogue partners in the ASEAN Plus Three and
the East Asian Summit.
Question 4: Could you give the geo-political context in which the forthcoming 37th
ASEAN Summit and related meetings take place?
ANSWER: The 37th ASEAN Summit will take place amidst domestic turmoil and
uncertainty about the political transition in the United States. The U.S. elections on 3rd
November exposed the extreme polarisation of American society that is likely to
persist after Joe Biden is sworn in as U.S. president. If the Republican Party retains
control of the Senate and Donald Trump continues to mobilise his supporters, the
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Biden Administration may have difficulty in achieving its domestic and foreign policy
goals. This situation will add to strategic uncertainty across the Indo-Pacific if not
globally.
Strategic competition between China and the United States will persist with
continuing tensions over trade and tariff issues and an intensification of tensions over
Taiwan and the South China Sea.
The next 69 days will be a crucial because president-elect Biden has no power until he
is officially inaugurated. Trump Administration officials who attend the ASEAN-related
meetings, such as the East Asia Summit this week, will have no real authority in their
last months in office.
Question 5: What do you expect of Vietnam as it presides over the forthcoming 37th
ASEAN Summit and related meetings?
ANSWER: I expect to see substantial progress in the five areas discussed in question
three above and a smooth hand over to Brunei, the next ASEAN Chair.
In the face of strategic uncertainty, I expect the Summit to reaffirm its commitment
to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Peace
and Stability in Southeast Asia.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam as ASEAN Chair and ASEAN’s 37th
Summit,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, November 12, 2020. All background
briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the
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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.