ASEAN 'should rethink interference creed'<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): A newly enlarged ASEAN will find it
\nchallenging to keep to its fundamental creed of not interfering
\nin the internal affairs of member states, speakers at an Asia-
\nPacific conference this weekend said.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) despite
\npressure from the West to deny Myanmar membership because of its
\nhuman rights record will admit Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia at the
\ngrouping's annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month.<\/p>\n
ASEAN -- currently grouping Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- has insisted its
\npolicy of \"constructive engagement\" will nudge Myanmar's military
\nrulers along the path of reform.<\/p>\n
Yusuf Wanandi, chairman of the Supervisory Board of
\nIndonesia's Centre for Strategic and International Studies,
\ncalled for ASEAN to give Yangon \"a roadmap\" for political and
\neconomic reforms.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the principle of nonintervention in each other's
\ndomestic affairs, there is always an exception to be made, and on
\nBurma (Myanmar) it is right to do so,\" Wanandi said at a seminar
\non ASEAN at the Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Saturday.<\/p>\n
ASEAN can also give some advice to the feuding factions in
\nCambodia to avoid violent confrontation there, Wanandi said.<\/p>\n
Relations between Cambodia's copremiers, Norodom Ranariddh and
\nHun Sen, have been strained to a near breaking point in the run-
\nup to next year's general election, paralyzing the legislature.<\/p>\n
Wanandi, a sherpa for the Indonesian delegation at ASEAN's
\nfounding in 1967, noted that ASEAN played a key role in paving
\nthe way to ending Cambodia's long civil war.<\/p>\n
Brunei delegate Timothy Ong questioned whether all ASEAN
\nmembers were prepared to see the group abandon its cherished
\nprinciple of noninterference.<\/p>\n
\"Strict adherence to that principle made it possible for
\nBrunei to join in 1984. And strict adherence allowed ASEAN to
\nwithstand the excesses of the Marcos regime (in the
\nPhilippines).\"<\/p>\n
Wanandi said in response that the media and the non-
\ngovernmental organizations in ASEAN countries have broken the
\ntaboo of noncriticism over issues like Indonesia's human rights
\nrecord in East Timor and Myanmar.<\/p>\n
He called for a regional assembly that could air potentially
\ncontentious issues, saying that ASEAN is overly defined by its
\nleaders and senior officials.<\/p>\n
Jose Almonte, Presidential Security advisor and director
\ngeneral of the National Security Council in the Philippines, said
\nthe newly enlarged 10-member ASEAN would help safeguard the
\nregion from outside intervention.<\/p>\n
The new ASEAN would \"prevent Southeast Asia from becoming an
\narena of their strategic competition, as it was for much of the
\nlast 50 years\".<\/p>\n
\"Unification also increases Southeast Asia's attractiveness to
\nforeign investors, gives it clout to enforce reciprocity on its
\ntrading partners,\" Almonte told the seminar.<\/p>\n
With the three new members, ASEAN now has a total population
\nof 480 million -- larger than Europe's -- with a combined gross
\ndomestic product of US$590 billion.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-should-rethink-interference-creed-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}