ASEAN's future to be reshaped in crucial meetings

ASEAN's future to be reshaped in crucial meetings

By Michele Cooper

BANGKOK (AFP): Formed 27 years ago to counter a perceived
threat from communist Indochina, ASEAN is gearing up this week
for crucial decisions on reshaping its future -- including
admitting former nemesis Vietnam.

Indicative of political trends in the region, the opening
session of the annual ASEAN foreign ministers meeting today will
be attended not just by the six members but by three regional
observer nations and two guest countries.

And if Vietnam has its way, it will transform its observer
status into full membership in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) before the end of 1995, officials say.

ASEAN now groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand. Laos and Papua New Guinea are also
observers, Cambodia is classified a "special ASEAN guest," and
Myanmar is attending as a guest of host Thailand.

While possible ASEAN membership for the others is some
distance off, Thailand is promoting a so-called Southeast Asia 10
(SEA-10) grouping of ASEAN members, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and
Myanmar as an expanded regional forum.

Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said last week Bangkok
would host a SEA-10 conference in the coming months, for
substantive talks which will not be possible at the formal ASEAN
open and closing sessions attended by all.

"It's a mark of ASEAN's political maturity, that it can
envision this kind of step," a Bangkok-based diplomat said
Wednesday, referring to the talks on expansion.

From a one-issue grouping, ASEAN has grown into a cohesive
organization making slow but notable progress on a range of
economic and political issues.

ASEAN members frequently speak with a single voice in
international forums, and that voice sounds increasingly self-
confident.

While ASEAN's tigers share many of the interests of the
leading world powers, they can no longer be counted on to tamely
fall into line behind Western designs.

An "ASEAN spirit" has emerged to protect the interests of
member countries in the face of both domestic dissent and
international protests.

In practice, this has meant that ASEAN states bar activities
on their soil which might embarrass fellow members.

Most recently, Thailand moved against a regional human rights
seminar which planned to focus on Myanmar and East Timor, a
troubled former Portuguese colony in Indonesia.

And ASEAN labor ministers earlier made it abundantly clear
they will fight Western demands that they pay higher wages to
their workers in exchange for more liberalized trade.

While Western partners have at times been distressed at
ASEAN's approach to human rights issues, they have been
appreciative of other initiatives such as ASEAN's instrumental
role in brokering the Cambodian peace accord of 1991.

ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to issue another joint
statement Saturday on Cambodia, endorsing the government in Phnom
Penh in the wake of an abortive coup d'etat two weeks ago mounted
by elements in the government.

Member states are not in agreement on everything, however, and
discussions of conflicting claims to the Spratly Islands in the
South China Sea which are believed to be rich in petroleum
deposits are also expected.

The two-day foreign ministers meeting is to be followed on
Monday by the first-ever ASEAN Regional Forum, bringing 18
delegations to the table to discuss security and stability
issues.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, ASEAN will hold its traditional
talks with so-called dialog partners: Australia, Canada, European
Union, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.