ASEAN has enough members for now<\/p>\n
In the past five years, ASEAN has nearly doubled in size.
\nVietnam joined the grouping in July 1995, Burma and Laos in July
\n1998 and Cambodia in April 1999, bringing the number of Asean
\nmember countries to 10.<\/p>\n
Geographically, the only country which could be considered
\ninside the current ASEAN boundaries which is not a member is the
\nembryonic nation of East Timor. A number of Asean member
\ncountries, including Thailand, have said they would welcome East
\nTimor under the ASEAN umbrella. But East Timor spokesmen have
\nstated their wish not to be in ASEAN, mainly because it would
\nmean sitting at a table with their foes Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Wounds heal slowly but it could well be that in time these
\ncountries will mend their relationship. East Timor would join the
\nPhilippines as a Christian member of ASEAN and would have
\nsimilarities and associated problems to that of Brunei due to its
\nsize. But East Timor today does not have an economy or a
\ngovernment, which are the two main beneficiaries of having a
\nstrategic alliance in ASEAN.<\/p>\n
Since its inception, ASEAN has granted \"dialogue\" status to
\nselected nations and some of those nations have then used this
\nstatus to push for full membership. Currently South Korea, China
\nand Japan could be considered in this category, while the other
\ndialogue partners are Australia, India, Canada, the European
\nUnion, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. Papua New
\nGuinea holds \"special observer\" status. Pakistan, Mexico and the
\nAndean Group (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)
\nhave applied to become dialogue partners while Taiwan and Mexico
\nhave applied to join in dialogue in certain sections.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's newest members -- Laos, Burma and Cambodia -- are
\nstill coming to grips with ASEAN processes and need time to fully
\nadjust and appoint appropriate people to the various committees
\nand sub-committees which abound in the secretariat. Only when
\nthese countries are fully established in ASEAN will the benefit
\nof their contribution be fully appreciated.<\/p>\n
And while it is appropriate to inform East Timor the ASEAN
\ndoor will be open to them, it is not necessary to set a time
\nframe for that opening. In July, ASEAN would do well to place a
\nthree year moratorium on the acceptance of new members so that it
\ncan consolidate and meld into the constructive and esteemed
\nrepresentative body this region is seeking.<\/p>\n
-- The Bangkok Post<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-has-enough-members-for-now-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }