ASEAN suffering 'growing pains' at 30

ASEAN suffering 'growing pains' at 30

By Gwen Benjamin

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): As ASEAN turns 30 this year, its long- cherished ambition of building a peaceful and prosperous Southeast Asia is being stunted by the actions of its new family members.

In a year meant to showcase Southeast Asian unity, ASEAN was forced to delay Cambodia's scheduled membership, had its offer to mediate in the Cambodian crisis flung back into its face, and was put on the defensive over the grouping's admission of international pariah, Myanmar.

"ASEAN's really learning a lesson of being a major power now," said defense analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who heads the Malaysian Strategic Research Center.

ASEAN's plan of getting all 10 Southeast Asian countries into its fold on July 23 was put on hold after Cambodia erupted into conflict when strongman Hun Sen ousted his coalition partner, Norodom Ranariddh, in a violent coup on July 5-6.

The ouster of Ranariddh by Hun Sen, just three weeks before Cambodia's scheduled entry into the regional grouping, had ASEAN scrambling to contain the fighting as the fragile four-year peace in Cambodia began to unravel.

The Cambodian crisis overshadowed a series of annual ASEAN meetings being held in Kuala Lumpur, which ends Tuesday, as member countries and their allies huddled to discuss a solution to the crisis.

"Cambodia is a test case of ASEAN maturity and resolve," Abdul Razak said, adding that ASEAN has to get rid of its outdated policies, such as not interfering into each other's internal affairs, if the grouping wants to grow into a credible organization.

"It has to change, be more hard-nosed, look at its interests and be ready to play that role," he said.

ASEAN's "two-tiered" membership, of richer and poorer economies, will also stymie its economic plans, like creating a free trade zone by 2003, as resources are diverted to help the weaker nations.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia is still an observer nation.

ASEAN indefinitely postponed Cambodia's membership on July 10, but agreed to admit Laos and military-ruled Myanmar on July 23, a day ahead of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The membership delay incensed Hun Sen, who called it interference into Cambodia's domestic problems, and spurned ASEAN's offer to help mediate between him and Ranariddh to restore stability in the strife-torn nation.

Confusion also reigned among concerned participants at the ASEAN meetings as Hun Sen and his Foreign Minister Ung Huot, who represented Cambodia in Kuala Lumpur, made conflicting statements over whether Phnom Penh welcomed ASEAN's mediation efforts.

Ung Huot, picked to replace Ranariddh as the country's first prime minister, flew home Sunday after news reports said he had been suspended as a member of Ranariddh's royalist FUNCINPEC party.

However, reports Monday that Hun Sen said he was prepared to receive a new mission from ASEAN offered a glimmer of hope for the regional grouping's mediation efforts.

The rumblings over Cambodia had barely settled when ASEAN had to brace itself for attacks against its infant member, Myanmar, from the grouping's security and economic allies over three days of talks since Sunday.

Myanmar's deplorable human rights records, its drug-based economy and slow progress on promised democratic reforms were repeatedly slammed by Western countries, in particular the United States and the European Union.

Western allies continued to put pressure on ASEAN to persuade Myanmar's ruling State Law and Restoration Council (SLORC) to improve its human rights record, and open up dialogue with pro- democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD).

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright emerged the harshest critic of the SLORC regime, with acting EU President Jacques Poos reiterating the European body's refusal to let Myanmar join an ASEAN-EU cooperation pact.

Albright, who called Myanmar an "anomaly within ASEAN" on Sunday during the 21-member ASEAN Regional Forum continued her attack Monday when she accused Yangon of giving "official encouragement" to the country's huge drug trade.

Albright was leading the U.S. delegation to the two-day Post- Ministerial Conference (PMC), which ended yesterday and wrapped up a week of ASEAN meetings.

The PMC is an annual dialogue between ASEAN and its 10 major trade and investment partners -- Australia, Canada, China, the EU., India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. Conference officials said Myanmar's Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw refrained from intervening during the attacks.

Instead, he explained in his address to the ARF that Myanmar's slow-going in drafting the country's new constitution, which is a prerequisite before polls can be held, was bogged down because of problems accommodating the views of Myanmar's numerous ethnic communities.

ASEAN ignored appeals from Western governments and human rights activists not to give legitimacy to Myanmar until it embarks on visible democratic reforms.

Fan Yew Teng, the coordinator of the Myanmar Solidarity Group of Malaysia, said ASEAN's decision to admit Myanmar, despite Yangon's widely known poor human rights record, was "not good for its image."

He warned that ASEAN's brushing off of international appeals against Myanmar smacked of "arrogance" and double standards, since ASEAN could have delayed Myanmar's entry as it did with Cambodia.

"ASEAN has risen and succeeded over the past 30 years, it's true," he said. "But there are still a lot of loopholes and pitfalls that need to be ironed out. Otherwise, these will get ASEAN into trouble later on," he added.