ASEAN officials debate ASC proposal in Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN) discussed on Thursday the ASEAN Security Community (ASC)
\nproposal at their meeting in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We have yet to come to an agreement (on the ASC). We agreed
\nto continue our discussions this weekend in Singapore,\" Director
\nGeneral for Asia-Pacific Affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of
\nForeign Affairs Makarim Wibisono told journalists after the
\nclosing of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The discussion will continue at a similar gathering of ASEAN
\nsenior officials next month in Cambodia, Makarim said.<\/p>\n
The outcome of these deliberations will be submitted to the
\nforthcoming ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in early July. The
\nAMM will be held in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The ASC, which was proposed by the current ASEAN chairman
\nIndonesia, was one of three \"pillars\" included in the Bali
\nConcord II which was endorsed last October at the grouping's
\nsummit in Bali.<\/p>\n
Together with the creation of similar economic and socio-
\ncultural communities, the Bali Concord II lays the foundation for
\nthe creation of an ASEAN Community by 2020.<\/p>\n
\"These series of meetings are deliberately scheduled to
\ncrystallize ideas and opinions on the subject matter,\" Makarim
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He described the discussion as encouraging but refused to say
\nif there were any objections to Indonesia's proposal.<\/p>\n
\"The response was varied. Some delegates, for example, argued
\nthat the proposal could be viewed as interference in a country's
\ninternal affairs, which is not the norm in the regional grouping,
\nIndonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty A.
\nNatalegawa said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta's proposal also calls for the formation of an ASEAN
\npeacekeeping force that might one day help settle disputes like
\nthose in Indonesia's Aceh province and the southern Philippines.<\/p>\n
But Singapore has expressed reservations, arguing that ASEAN
\nis not a security or defense organization. Vietnam is also
\nreportedly cool toward the idea.<\/p>\n
Marty said that the delegates also discussed six programs
\nregarding the ASC during the meeting.<\/p>\n
First was political development that deals with cooperation in
\nthe field of human rights, democratization and vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n
Second was the sharing and shaping of norms, for example that
\nASEAN countries would not use violence in settling problems among
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
The rest included conflict prevention in the framework of
\nASEAN confidence building, conflict resolution, post-conflict
\npeace building, and an ASEAN cooperation mechanism.<\/p>\n
\"We tried to explain that its time for us, ASEAN, to think
\nregionally because what we want to deal with is not this year's
\nchallenge but that of 2020 instead\", said Marty.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-officials-debate-asc-proposal-in-yogyakarta-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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