Bangkok: South-east Asian nations have expressed concern they will become caught up in superpower rivalries after the Trump administration ended the 12-nation Pacific trade deal.
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The Philippines, which has taken chairmanship of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, has told the US and China the region is not a "proxy" for superpower competition and that it is time for outsiders to allow ASEAN to determine its own course.
"We have to remind our friends, firmly if necessary, not to use ASEAN as a proxy for their rivalry," Philippine Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana told a security forum in Singapore.
Malaysia's Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein also hit out at what he called a regrettable tendency for regional countries to be forced to choose between the US or China, saying it went against Asia's unique tradition of pluralism, where different cultures, faiths and belief systems had co-existed for centuries.
"Look beyond tired and childish notions of winners and losers for the simple fact that peace is a universal good and not a zero-sum game," he said.
US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal on his first day on the job on Monday, creating a political and economic vacuum in the region that China was eager to fill through a 16-nation pact called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which included Australia.
Despite former US president Barack Obama's attempt to "pivot" US foreign policy to Asia, China had recently boosted ties with traditional US allies such as the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.
Cambodia last week inexplicably cancelled scheduled military war-games with US forces.
Mr Hishammuddin urged the Trump administration not to reduce the US's military presence in Asia and the Pacific but said, if the US pulled back, a united ASEAN had to be prepared for heavier security responsibilities.
"Nobody, not the US, not China, can ignore the destiny and the future of the 10 ASEAN countries that are united," Mr Hishammuddin said.
Previous ASEAN meetings have been marred by disunity on how to deal with Beijing over the South China Sea.
ASEAN officials plan later this year to finalise a code of conduct for the flashpoint waters that will ensure six countries that have overlapping claims follow legal and diplomatic processes in settling territorial disputes.
China claims almost all the waterways where about US$5 trillion worth of goods passes each year, including much of Australia's shipping trade.
"We want a rules-based, lasting solution to this issue," Mr Lorenzana said.
