ASEAN to welcome Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia in July

ASEAN to welcome Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia in July

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Foreign ministers of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed at a special meeting here
yesterday to admit Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar as new members in
July.

The half-day meeting ended much public controversy as to
whether ASEAN would grant the three countries full membership
this year.

The formal announcement was made by Malaysian Foreign Minister
Abdullah Badawi, the chairman of yesterday's meeting.

"We have considered the report of the secretary-general of
ASEAN on the readiness of the CLM (Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar).
We are satisfied that they are already ready to be ASEAN members
and on the basis of that, we have decided that they will be
admitted as members in July".

The admission coincides with the holding of the annual ASEAN
Ministerial Meeting which will also be held in Kuala Lumpur. New
members have traditionally been admitted during the ministerial
meetings.

Badawi claimed ASEAN ministers had "no reservations
whatsoever" about their decision.

ASEAN was established in 1967 and originally comprised
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Brunei was given full membership in 1984 while Vietnam became the
seventh member in 1994.

There has been much speculation recently whether Myanmar's and
to some extent Cambodia's, immediate admission would be approved.

Some observers thought ASEAN would delay admission and review
the domestic developments in Cambodia and Myanmar before
December, when ASEAN leaders are holding a summit in the
Malaysian capital to commemorate the organization's 30th
anniversary.

The United States and the European Union (EU) have led a
barrage of criticism against the ruling junta in Yangon for its
suppression of the pro-democracy movement led by Nobel peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

U.S. and EU officials have repeatedly urged ASEAN to delay
Myanmar's entry.

Cambodia has also been in the spotlight as recent domestic
strife has threatened to plunge the country back into chaos.

Badawi brushed aside these concerns. "We are aware of the
developments but we consider them merely internal matters," he
said.

He added that the best thing to do now was to proceed with the
admission process.

"We have expressed our views of what is happening but we
believe that it would be better for them to be in ASEAN," he said
adding that "delay would not help improve the situation."

He said their admission was "in the interests of the region."

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas defended the
decision, arguing that domestic political matters were not a
deciding factor in granting membership.

"Entry should be based on the criteria that we had set ...
The best timing therefore would be 30th July," Alatas said,
referring to the date of the annual ministerial meeting.

Alatas disclosed that not everyone at the meeting was at first
comfortable with the timing. Nevertheless "in the end it was a
consensus decision," he said.

Yesterday's meeting was also attended by Princess Masna of
Brunei, Domingo Siazon of the Philippines, S. Jayakumar of
Singapore, Prachuab Chaiyasan of Thailand, Nguyen Manh Cam of
Vietnam and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Ajit Singh.

As chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee, Badawi was
assigned the task of visiting the three new member countries to
officially inform the respective governments of the committee's
decision.

The first tasks the new members face include meeting the
requirements of the ASEAN Free Trade Area, which is due to take
effect in 2003. However they are to be given a 10-year extension
to meet the criteria.

Just minutes after the meeting closed, a small rally by
Malaysian NGO's was held outside the conference venue to protest
the decision.

The ministers also discussed preparations for the summit for
mid-December. The heads of government from China, Japan and South
Korea will also be invited.

The ministers also agreed to add a second deputy secretary-
general to the ASEAN secretariat.

Two candidates, Indonesian diplomat Roy Inkiriwang and
Thailand's Suthad Setboonsarng, who is currently director of the
AFTA bureau at the ASEAN Secretariat, have been nominated.

A decision was also taken yesterday on adopting a new logo and
flag for ASEAN. The new logo and flag are similar to the old
ones, but with a change of colors and additional bars to reflect
the new members.

Alatas said the flag's colors -- a dark blue backdrop, a white
ring in the middle filled with a red background with 10 yellow
bars -- represent the colors in ASEAN member countries' national
flags.