ASEAN should make decisions

ASEAN should make decisions

Talking is obviously better than not talking. But dialog
without any set program and as an end in itself seems more like
an opportunity to golf than anything else.

If ASEAN is to deal with the challenges of the next few years,
it must do something about some overriding issues, including
North Korean non-proliferation, Chinese expansionism and the new
"observer," Myanmar.

Myanmar, now being wooed, is presently locking up
democratically elected officials and torturing foreigners. When
things got rough in the Taiwan Strait, ASEAN members knew all too
well that their security depended on the U.S. presence in the
region. North Korean nuclear weapons programs seem to be out of
ASEAN's line of sight. Security in Southeast Asia depends on how
these issues are handled. Enough dialog. Let's make some
decisions.

TOM MEIDINGER

Jakarta