ASEAN's Bali summit

ASEAN's Bali summit

At least three important issues are expected to come up when leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather in Bali starting on Tuesday, with leaders from China, Japan, South Korea and India scheduled to meet with them the following day.

First of all, the Balinese and the entire Indonesian nation are grateful for the resolve of the ASEAN leaders and their guests, who told President Megawati Soekarnoputri after the terrorist attack on Oct. 12 last year that they would not hesitate to travel to Bali to attend this year's summit.

To its credit, the government has worked hard to ensure the safety of its guests during their stay in Bali, as can be seen from the tight security measures that have been taken. This solidarity has sent a strong message to the world that this regional grouping stands united in the fight against terrorism.

ASEAN also has proved that it is able to work together to hunt down terrorists, although it is still far from being able to combat the roots of terror due to the complexity of the problem.

Second, this meeting will be the farewell ASEAN summit for Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the longest-serving leader in the region. The prime minister has set an example of how a leader should exit the political stage while he is still at the peak of his powers and popularity, avoiding the humiliation of leaders such as former Indonesian president Soeharto, who was forced out of office because the people would stand for no more of his misrule.

In 2005, Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is scheduled to hand over power to his deputy, Brig. Gen. (ret) Lee Hsien Loong. Hopefully, this model of peaceful political transfer will be picked up by other countries in the region.

Third, the hope is widely shared among the people of ASEAN that the Myanmar junta will free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the not too distant future, hopefully before the summit on Tuesday. Unless this happens, the ASEAN leaders will be humiliated by the stubborn refusal of the military regime in Yangon to answer their calls for the release of Suu Kyi. After all, this is the first time ASEAN leaders have demanded the release of an opposition leader in one of its member states.

A rather discouraging signal, however, has been given by Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyut, who apparently is not the least bit embarrassed to come to Bali, probably feeling the junta has done more than enough by putting Suu Kyi under house arrest for the third time since 1989.

In any case, despite their failure to secure the release of Suu Kyi, the ASEAN leaders have set a historic precedent. It will henceforth no longer be as easy as it was in the past for leaders in the region to mistreat their political enemies or commit gross human rights abuses without inviting a reaction from neighboring countries. This is tremendous progress for ASEAN, which until last year continued to honor noninterference as a cardinal principle for the region.

As for the summit, we hope it will succeed in producing not only documents containing wishes and beautiful dreams that cannot be implemented. In the past, too many pledges and commitments were issued at these summits. Ironically, these empty commitments were often cited as examples of ASEAN's success in dealing with the challenges facing it.

We hope that this time the ASEAN leaders will agree to support Indonesia's initiative on the establishment of an ASEAN Security Community. The concept is workable and ASEAN members should be willing to implement it, and not just because they do not want to embarrass their host, President Megawati. They need to talk frankly and achieve concrete results.

The meeting of the ASEAN leaders with the heads of government of China, Japan, South Korea and India is expected to allow the regional grouping to accelerate economic growth as well as improve political stability. The crisis on the Korean Peninsula will naturally be a hot topic. China, Japan and South Korea will all hold separate meetings before meeting with ASEAN.

ASEAN also has strong political and economic interests in a peaceful solution being found for the problems on the Korean Peninsula, because that would boost economic growth in the region, which in turn would spread to ASEAN.

Also, closer cooperation between ASEAN and India would help the two parties strengthen their respective interests.

We welcome the leaders to Bali and wish them success. The warm welcome they receive from people on this island will hopefully inspire them to do more for the benefit of the people of Southeast Asia.