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.