ASEAN has enough members for now

ASEAN has enough members for now

In the past five years, ASEAN has nearly doubled in size.
Vietnam joined the grouping in July 1995, Burma and Laos in July
1998 and Cambodia in April 1999, bringing the number of Asean
member countries to 10.

Geographically, the only country which could be considered
inside the current ASEAN boundaries which is not a member is the
embryonic nation of East Timor. A number of Asean member
countries, including Thailand, have said they would welcome East
Timor under the ASEAN umbrella. But East Timor spokesmen have
stated their wish not to be in ASEAN, mainly because it would
mean sitting at a table with their foes Indonesia.

Wounds heal slowly but it could well be that in time these
countries will mend their relationship. East Timor would join the
Philippines as a Christian member of ASEAN and would have
similarities and associated problems to that of Brunei due to its
size. But East Timor today does not have an economy or a
government, which are the two main beneficiaries of having a
strategic alliance in ASEAN.

Since its inception, ASEAN has granted "dialogue" status to
selected nations and some of those nations have then used this
status to push for full membership. Currently South Korea, China
and Japan could be considered in this category, while the other
dialogue partners are Australia, India, Canada, the European
Union, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. Papua New
Guinea holds "special observer" status. Pakistan, Mexico and the
Andean Group (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)
have applied to become dialogue partners while Taiwan and Mexico
have applied to join in dialogue in certain sections.

ASEAN's newest members -- Laos, Burma and Cambodia -- are
still coming to grips with ASEAN processes and need time to fully
adjust and appoint appropriate people to the various committees
and sub-committees which abound in the secretariat. Only when
these countries are fully established in ASEAN will the benefit
of their contribution be fully appreciated.

And while it is appropriate to inform East Timor the ASEAN
door will be open to them, it is not necessary to set a time
frame for that opening. In July, ASEAN would do well to place a
three year moratorium on the acceptance of new members so that it
can consolidate and meld into the constructive and esteemed
representative body this region is seeking.

-- The Bangkok Post