ASEAN finds little unity in diversity

ASEAN finds little unity in diversity

By Dean Yates

HANOI (Reuters): With one word, tiny Laos symbolized the lack
of unity at a summit of Southeast Asian nations in Vietnam this
week.

Lao Prime Minister Sisavat Keobounphan, speaking at a scripted
opening ceremony on Tuesday, said it was "regrettable" Cambodia
was not a full member at the summit of the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A diplomatic slap by any standard, the word hung in the air
and shredded any pretense that ASEAN's principle of consensus
would prevail at the two-day summit and prove the group was
united in rescuing its battered economies, analysts said on
Thursday.

And it was not only Cambodia that divided ASEAN, whose nine
members comprise Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

A clear fissure emerged over how ASEAN wanted to fight the
region's worst economic crisis in decades.

Discord over whether to embrace the global economy or retreat
behind capital controls, accelerate trade liberalization or lower
import barriers cautiously, neutered what some had hoped would
produce a strong message on ASEAN financial reform.

The best ASEAN could come up with was a statement of so-called
"bold measures" that analysts said promised much in the catchy
slogan but delivered little in the fine print.

"Southeast Asia leaders came to Vietnam and the underlying
impression of discord did little to restore the group's
credibility. They failed to keep the Cambodian issue from
overshadowing the summit," one Western diplomat in Hanoi said.

"I think the bottom line is the outside world wanted to see
ASEAN leaders do something about the economic crisis and they
have got together and created these so-called bold measures but
there was nothing in that to spark attention."

Alison Broinowski, a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Asian
Studies at the Australian National University, said the imminent
inclusion of Cambodia and discord on how to fight the economic
woes showed ASEAN's cohesiveness was being "severely challenged".

"I think they are overreaching themselves with the 10
(members) and they have taken the risk of bringing in some who
are seriously poor," said Broinowski, an author and expert on
ASEAN.

Those urging caution on trade reform were communist-ruled
Vietnam and Laos, among the poorest countries in the world.

Cambodia had been expected to join ASEAN in mid-1997 along
with Laos and Myanmar, but its entry was delayed after Premier
Hun Sen ousted his then co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a
coup. Last month Hun Sen, who won a July poll but not enough
votes to govern alone, agreed to a new coalition with Ranariddh.

Leaders secured a face-saving decision by agreeing to admit
Cambodia but not during the summit as most members had wished.
Singapore was most opposed, saying the new coalition government
needed to implement certain agreements first.

David Fernandez, ASEAN Economist at J.P. Morgan in Singapore,
said the Cambodian issue underlined the fault lines that remained
within ASEAN and further exposed the group to the limitations of
becoming a two-tiered organization.

"This is an obvious structural problem in the way ASEAN is
developing and in many ways it has the potential for diluting the
likelihood of ASEAN becoming one voice for the region," he told
Reuters by telephone.

ASEAN had to make hard decisions in the future to reinvent
itself and regain credibility, Broinowski added.

"But to make these hard decisions they have to forget about
the consensus rule and the non-interference principle," she said.

"If they cannot deal with this as other organizations do and
say that consensus is too slow and non-interference just too
inefficient then I think the chance of ASEAN reinventing itself
quickly enough to be effective is slight."

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad insisted ASEAN must
stick to the principle of non-interference in the affairs of
member states and base all decisions on consensus.

But Thailand urged more openness and Premier Chuan Leekpai
suggested the group needed new approaches and fresh thinking to
meet the challenges of a fast-changing world.

Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan also admitted on Tuesday
that in the face of the crippling economic crisis ASEAN's once
prized characteristic of diversity had become a burden.

Diverse political, social and economic systems had to be
reconciled by member countries if the grouping was to regain
international investor confidence, he said.

Window: The best ASEAN could come up with was a statement of
so-called "bold measures" that analysts said promised much in
the catchy slogan but delivered little in the fine print.