The Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] defense ministers’ annual meeting took a major step forward this year, launching its first Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief [HADR] program and Military Medicine [MM] Joint Exercise [HADR/MM].
The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus [ADMM-Plus] includes defense ministers from the 10 member states of the ASEAN as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia. The meeting is the highest-level official multilateral security mechanism on defense affairs in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ADMM-Plus is becoming a major building block in the security architecture of Southeast Asia and has become an important forum in which China seeks to engage the 10 ASEAN nations, with their rapidly growing economies and combined population of more than 600 million people.
“ASEAN has emerged as a major force in promoting the forces of pluralism and free markets across Asia,” said Martin Hutchinson, a financial analyst for Reuters Breakingviews.com and an analyst on developing economies. “It is doing a great deal of good, especially in promoting the policies of openness and engagement with the global economy in [Burma].”
The HADR/MM exercises, Hutchinson said, were a welcome example of the ASEAN nations boosting the effectiveness of their defense forces and their capabilities for carrying out joint operations.
China Military Online [CMO] noted that the gathering “gives priority to pragmatic cooperation in five non-traditional security fields, that is, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security, anti-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and military medicine.”
Beijing’s new engagement with the ADMM-Plus’s HADR/MM exercise gives China the opportunity to highlight its responsibility as a global power, even while it is engaged in territorial disputes in the South China Sea with ASEAN member states including the Philippines and Vietnam.
“It is important to see new patterns of cooperation being established in the defense sphere in East Asia, especially ones where China is drawn into constructive and continual engagement,” Hutchinson said. The ADMM-Plus format and the HADR/MM exercises therefore provide a useful precedent for increased positive engagement in the future.”
ADMM-Plus attracts 2,000 troops
The first HADR/MM under the leadership of the ADMM-Plus was held June 17 to 20 in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of the hydrocarbon-rich state of Brunei Darussalam on the north coast of the island of Borneo. More than 2,000 troops from 18 member-states in the ADMM-Plus participated.
The exercise practiced a coordinated international response to a hypothetical typhoon striking a Southeast Asian nation and setting off secondary disasters such as floods and mud-rock flows.
“Under the command of the directing department, the participating troops from various countries carried out drills on such subjects as personnel search and rescue, medical treatment, repair and restoration of roads and bridges, materials distribution and epidemic prevention,” CMO reported on June 17.
CMO reported that Beijing sent 110 officers and men including commanders, staff officers, engineers and a medical detachment to participate in the exercise. They were involved in drills on medical treatment, professional seminars and experience exchanges on military medical service on the Peace Ark hospital ship of the People’s Liberation Army Navy [PLAN].
During the four-day-long joint exercise, Chinese forces cooperated with the other participating groups. India, Japan, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia and the United States all sent combat vessels and aircraft to take part in the exercise.
PLAN Rear Admiral Shen Hao, commander of China’s “Mission Harmony-2013” participation in the exercise, told CRIEnglish.com that the Peace Ark hospital ship was “bringing with it the friendship of the Chinese people and the Chinese military.”
“A good relationship between the militaries of China and Brunei is in line with the interests of our two peoples and benefits world peace and stability as well,” Shen said. “We are looking forward to conducting exchanges and cooperation with other countries’ navies during our stay in Brunei.”
HADR/MM strengthens cooperation, promotes stability
Deputy Defense Minister Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa of Brunei Darussalam said in a news release that he hoped regional forces could forge closer cooperation as a result of the exercise, to better handle natural disasters.
“The exercise has provided the ideal opportunity to learn from each other's experiences and best practices, particularly in the field of HADR and military medicine,” he said in the June 20 statement.
He added that every nation had brought something new to the table that greatly benefited all parties and that the sharing of knowledge and ideas and the adoption of a common set of standing operating procedures had helped to enhance interoperability and confidence among the member countries.
Participants practiced typhoon rescue, survey, recovery and disaster relief in the vicinity of the District of Temburong, as well as other locations in Bandar Seri Begawan, Muara Naval Base and Rimba Air Force Base.
Exercise followed joint training program
Before the exercise, multinational personnel held a force integration training program as part of medical and engineering engagements at locations throughout Brunei from June 10 to 15.
“Many things executed throughout this exercise will be the first time it has been done,” said Royal Thai Armed Forces Capt. Nuttapong Ketsumboon, director of the doctrine development and evaluation joint and combined exercise planning office.
“We have more than 100 people from our forces out here to participate because we know how important it is. This exercise absolutely benefits everyone involved. Living in the Pacific region you never know what is going to happen, and we all need to be able to work together and respond when needed.”
Hospital ship offered check-ups, tests
China’s Peace Ark hospital ship provided free medical check-ups including blood tests and X-rays for hundreds of people in Brunei on June 17.
China’s official Xinhua news agency described the Peace Ark as “an emergency medical support platform independently designed and built by China. Its tasks include treatment and evacuation of the injured and the sick on the sea, and medical support for troops stationed at islands and atolls.”
“The ship is 4,000 square meters [43,056 square feet] in size, including seven offices for doctors and nurses and eight nurse stations, in addition to 300 beds. The medical equipment on the ship is on par with that in China’s top-level hospitals,” the report said.
Increased security cooperation
The first ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting was held in Malaysia in 2006. Since then, “there have been major progresses in building confidence, strengthening solidarity and promoting cooperation,” the Philippine Star newspaper noted on June 2.
“Non-ASEAN powers praise ASEAN for its initiative and commitment to multilateralism in which dialogue and confidence building have become the core principles,” analyst Awidya Santikajaya wrote in the Jakarta Post on June 3.
“Processes in ASEAN have provided a positive foundation for the region’s security cooperation,” Santikajaya said.
Leaders in ASEAN countries hope that the expanding ADMM dialogue and the success of the multinational disaster relief exercise will open the way to agreements on expanded security cooperation in Southeast Asia.
“Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa entertained the idea of an ‘Indo-Pacific Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation’ in order to advance trust and communication in the region,” Santikajaya noted. “The idea will possibly have a greater chance of success since all nations in the Indo-Pacific region heavily require trust to build sustainable peace and stability.”
How effective do you think joint exercises are in improving cooperation and regional security in Southeast Asia? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus [ADMM-Plus] includes defense ministers from the 10 member states of the ASEAN as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia. The meeting is the highest-level official multilateral security mechanism on defense affairs in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ADMM-Plus is becoming a major building block in the security architecture of Southeast Asia and has become an important forum in which China seeks to engage the 10 ASEAN nations, with their rapidly growing economies and combined population of more than 600 million people.
“ASEAN has emerged as a major force in promoting the forces of pluralism and free markets across Asia,” said Martin Hutchinson, a financial analyst for Reuters Breakingviews.com and an analyst on developing economies. “It is doing a great deal of good, especially in promoting the policies of openness and engagement with the global economy in [Burma].”
The HADR/MM exercises, Hutchinson said, were a welcome example of the ASEAN nations boosting the effectiveness of their defense forces and their capabilities for carrying out joint operations.
China Military Online [CMO] noted that the gathering “gives priority to pragmatic cooperation in five non-traditional security fields, that is, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security, anti-terrorism, peacekeeping operations and military medicine.”
Beijing’s new engagement with the ADMM-Plus’s HADR/MM exercise gives China the opportunity to highlight its responsibility as a global power, even while it is engaged in territorial disputes in the South China Sea with ASEAN member states including the Philippines and Vietnam.
“It is important to see new patterns of cooperation being established in the defense sphere in East Asia, especially ones where China is drawn into constructive and continual engagement,” Hutchinson said. The ADMM-Plus format and the HADR/MM exercises therefore provide a useful precedent for increased positive engagement in the future.”
ADMM-Plus attracts 2,000 troops
The first HADR/MM under the leadership of the ADMM-Plus was held June 17 to 20 in Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of the hydrocarbon-rich state of Brunei Darussalam on the north coast of the island of Borneo. More than 2,000 troops from 18 member-states in the ADMM-Plus participated.
The exercise practiced a coordinated international response to a hypothetical typhoon striking a Southeast Asian nation and setting off secondary disasters such as floods and mud-rock flows.
“Under the command of the directing department, the participating troops from various countries carried out drills on such subjects as personnel search and rescue, medical treatment, repair and restoration of roads and bridges, materials distribution and epidemic prevention,” CMO reported on June 17.
CMO reported that Beijing sent 110 officers and men including commanders, staff officers, engineers and a medical detachment to participate in the exercise. They were involved in drills on medical treatment, professional seminars and experience exchanges on military medical service on the Peace Ark hospital ship of the People’s Liberation Army Navy [PLAN].
During the four-day-long joint exercise, Chinese forces cooperated with the other participating groups. India, Japan, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia and the United States all sent combat vessels and aircraft to take part in the exercise.
PLAN Rear Admiral Shen Hao, commander of China’s “Mission Harmony-2013” participation in the exercise, told CRIEnglish.com that the Peace Ark hospital ship was “bringing with it the friendship of the Chinese people and the Chinese military.”
“A good relationship between the militaries of China and Brunei is in line with the interests of our two peoples and benefits world peace and stability as well,” Shen said. “We are looking forward to conducting exchanges and cooperation with other countries’ navies during our stay in Brunei.”
HADR/MM strengthens cooperation, promotes stability
Deputy Defense Minister Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa of Brunei Darussalam said in a news release that he hoped regional forces could forge closer cooperation as a result of the exercise, to better handle natural disasters.
“The exercise has provided the ideal opportunity to learn from each other's experiences and best practices, particularly in the field of HADR and military medicine,” he said in the June 20 statement.
He added that every nation had brought something new to the table that greatly benefited all parties and that the sharing of knowledge and ideas and the adoption of a common set of standing operating procedures had helped to enhance interoperability and confidence among the member countries.
Participants practiced typhoon rescue, survey, recovery and disaster relief in the vicinity of the District of Temburong, as well as other locations in Bandar Seri Begawan, Muara Naval Base and Rimba Air Force Base.
Exercise followed joint training program
Before the exercise, multinational personnel held a force integration training program as part of medical and engineering engagements at locations throughout Brunei from June 10 to 15.
“Many things executed throughout this exercise will be the first time it has been done,” said Royal Thai Armed Forces Capt. Nuttapong Ketsumboon, director of the doctrine development and evaluation joint and combined exercise planning office.
“We have more than 100 people from our forces out here to participate because we know how important it is. This exercise absolutely benefits everyone involved. Living in the Pacific region you never know what is going to happen, and we all need to be able to work together and respond when needed.”
Hospital ship offered check-ups, tests
China’s Peace Ark hospital ship provided free medical check-ups including blood tests and X-rays for hundreds of people in Brunei on June 17.
China’s official Xinhua news agency described the Peace Ark as “an emergency medical support platform independently designed and built by China. Its tasks include treatment and evacuation of the injured and the sick on the sea, and medical support for troops stationed at islands and atolls.”
“The ship is 4,000 square meters [43,056 square feet] in size, including seven offices for doctors and nurses and eight nurse stations, in addition to 300 beds. The medical equipment on the ship is on par with that in China’s top-level hospitals,” the report said.
Increased security cooperation
The first ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting was held in Malaysia in 2006. Since then, “there have been major progresses in building confidence, strengthening solidarity and promoting cooperation,” the Philippine Star newspaper noted on June 2.
“Non-ASEAN powers praise ASEAN for its initiative and commitment to multilateralism in which dialogue and confidence building have become the core principles,” analyst Awidya Santikajaya wrote in the Jakarta Post on June 3.
“Processes in ASEAN have provided a positive foundation for the region’s security cooperation,” Santikajaya said.
Leaders in ASEAN countries hope that the expanding ADMM dialogue and the success of the multinational disaster relief exercise will open the way to agreements on expanded security cooperation in Southeast Asia.
“Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa entertained the idea of an ‘Indo-Pacific Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation’ in order to advance trust and communication in the region,” Santikajaya noted. “The idea will possibly have a greater chance of success since all nations in the Indo-Pacific region heavily require trust to build sustainable peace and stability.”
How effective do you think joint exercises are in improving cooperation and regional security in Southeast Asia? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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