Burma is likely to be the main talking point at next week’s ASEAN summit. But will they dare tackle China’s territorial claims?
Ten years ago, Cambodia took over the chair of ASEAN for the first time amid consternation Phnom Penh was tackling too much too soon. The city’s infrastructure remained devastated by three decades of war that had just ended in 1998, and the global security environment had been turned upside down by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Cambodia was widely regarded as the regional basket case, and Phnom Penh hardly seemed the place for a gathering of heads of state, their foreign ministers and assorted bureaucrats from as far afield as the United States, China and Australia to those within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Thanks largely to efforts by diplomats in the Singapore embassy, however, the summit and Cambodia’s year as chair was carried off with aplomb. Next week, the annual ASEAN summit returns to a vastly improved Cambodia, with Burma – a contemporary regional basket case –at the top of the agenda.
“Myanmar (Burma) isn’t in the official agenda of ASEAN, but regional leaders will use the gathering to discuss political development in Myanmar unofficially,” says Kamarulnizam Abdullah, a professor of national security at the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM.
“They are keen to know from their Myanmarese counterparts on the election process.”
This will follow weekend elections that will undoubtedly herald a march into parliament by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League of democracy (NLD) and a managed float of the Kyat amid plans for Naypyidaw’s assumption of the ASEAN chair in 2014, a year ahead of the cherished dream of a fully integrated ASEAN Community.
Important will be the arrival of Burmese President Thein Sein. His election victory in 2010 was widely dismisses as rigged, but with the NLD’s backing of the by-elections, his position has been legitimized, raising the prospect that Western countries will start to lift crippling economic sanctions.
Suu Kyi has already claimed that widespread irregularities during this campaign were “really beyond what’s acceptable in a democratic nation.” But she was still prepared to proceed with the elections “because that’s what our people want”.
This will go a long way toward easing international tensions over the prospect of Burma hosting the ASEAN chair in 2014, just 12 months shy of ASEAN’s plans to declare itself a fully integrated community.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will chair the 20th ASEAN Summit, with three key documents declaring that ASEAN is one community, one destiny and drug free by 2015, expected to take pride of place.
“The proposed ASEAN community – this is the big agenda to reaffirm member countries’ commitment. ASEAN needs to ensure that members are fully geared up to the plan. Emphasis will also be given to the role of second and third track diplomacy in achieving the community idea,” Abdullah of UUM said.
Ray Leos, Dean of the Faculty of Communications and Media Arts at Pannasastra University of Cambodia, says the biggest issue confronting ASEAN integration is the yawning wealth gap.
“How can ASEAN realistically close the gap between the rich and poor countries by 2015? What will be the form of this ASEAN integration? This is still not entirely clear, and we are less than three years away. It’s vital that this issue be addressed this year,” he says.
ASEAN at present consists of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Timor-Leste has been widely touted as the next member while Papua New Guinea has also indicated it would like to join the trade bloc.
Other issues include formulating a rapid regional response to disaster management, like the floods that struck Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam last year; pushing protocols to establish Southeast Asia as a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) and dispute management.
The true test of diplomatic skills lies with China and whether Cambodia is prepared to use its position as chair to back sovereign claims by Vietnam and the Philippines over the Paracel and Spratly islands against Beijing, which is a key financial supporter of Hun Sen’s government.
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Nobody
Why does ASEAN not make a deal?
If natural resources is China primary target then let China be the only winning contractor to mine whatever resources found in the SCS. In return, ASEAN countries get their teritories based on the standard international laws.
As a solely contractor, China would make a regular business deal to the respected ASEAN countries involved.
Everyone wins and there is no war.
I wish world politics could be as simple as that.
eyedrd
Tensions in the East Sea/ South China Sea/ West Philippines Sea continue to be covered daily by the local and English language-media. Westerner analysts have a good grasp of the issue and Chinese strategy.
As Vietnam was colonized by China for 1,000 years without interruption and has ever been invaded by every Chinese dynasty for the past thousand years including the Chinese communists, Vietnamese people inherently understand the Chinese play-book of “Vừa ăn cướp vừa la làng,” which means literally “stealing while screaming out for thieves.
China’s strategy in East Sea/South China Sea dispute: Vừa ăn cướp vừa la làng
http://www.eyedrd.org/2012/04/chinas-strategy-in-east-seasouth-china-sea-dispute-v%E1%BB%ABa-an-c%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Bp-v%E1%BB%ABa-la-lang.html
ASEAN guy
ASEAN should be independent and united as one in dealing with big bad bully China. Unfortunately, the two weaklings of Asean, Cambodia and Laos have been bought off by China. Soon, we will see a total invasion of China. Currently, Chinese migrants are flooding Laos and Cambodia. God, please help us from greedy China.
John Chan
ASEAN is not a NATO-like organization, its mandate is to improve economy and to refrain from threat and use of force against each other. Disputes between China and ASEAN members fall outside the purview of ASEAN.
The author challenge Cambodia to “use its position as chair to back sovereign claims by Vietnam and the Philippines over the Paracel and Spratly islands against Beijing,” is unreasonable and ignorant of ASEAN, it seems the author intends to gang press Cambodia and ASEAN nations into serving the predatory imperialist Westpac to contain China.
The imperialist Westpac never has ASEAN nations’ best interest at heart, from the first contact between the West and East, the history is littered with atrocity and exploitation imposed on the East by the Westpac. Even up to recently, the Westpac racked a havoc on ASEAN nations via the IMF and the World Bank. Now the Westpac wants the ASEAN nations to serve as cannon fodders in the suppression against a peaceful rising China, then only it reaches out to the ASENA nations in the pretence of siding the weak.
The article is a typical of such honey worded preaches. If ASEAN lose its independence and be misled by the Westpac and its lackey Philippines and Vietnam, the unfortunate outcome for the ASEAN members will be again to repeat their sad paths during the colonial era.
The Observer
The Philippines a Westpac lackey???? hahahahaha…. The Flips kicked out the American’s Permanent Bases 21 years ago thru their Senate….
The Viets LITERALLY kicked them out of Vietnam even longer….
Truth is, many Filipinos in the Armed Forces of the Philippines Officer Corps are pissed with the Americans and are willing to be friends with the PRC, but the PRC didn’t handle the situation right….
Instead of the PRC taking said officers in their arms, they drove them back to the US…
talking points
“The islands are covered by the 1960 U.S.-Japan treaty of Mutual Cooperation and weren’t contested for more than 50 years after World War II, when Beijing was receiving soft loans from Tokyo as part of post-war reparations.”
The author is wrong and obvious in his bias. SEA islands are not covered by US-Japan treaty. it may cover Diaoyu islands. China always claimed these islands. Japan only started provide soft loans after 1970s.
regardless, Diaoyu islands are China’s and will be.
Wes
I seriously doubt it.
Cyrus
“United we Stand, Divided we fall” This rings true for ASEAN.