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