Cambodia clears the way to ASEAN

Cambodia clears the way to ASEAN

By Matthew Lee

PHNOM PENH (AFP): When Cambodian Foreign Minister Ung Huot signs the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation this month in Brunei, yet another block will have been removed from the country's wall of isolation.

Yet as Cambodia stares Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) observer status in the face and contemplates the benefits full membership could eventually bring, a current of hesitation appears to be running through the capital, which has been cut off from the international community as well as its closest neighbors for much of the past 20 years.

Beginning with independence from the French in the 1950s, national sovereignty and isolation from all but a few selected allies has been a hallmark of the Cambodian mindset, according to observers and diplomats.

"(King) Sihanouk pioneered it, the Khmer Rouge took it a step further and then most of the world imposed it," said one diplomat, only half-jokingly describing Cambodia's foreign relations over the past 35 years.

"Cambodians have always thought of themselves as independent and are very wary of giving that up," said one veteran Cambodia watcher. "Full membership in ASEAN, with all the obligations that entails, might be seen as a threat by some people."

While that sentiment may appear to be incongruous with Cambodia's present heavy reliance on the international community to pay its bills, it seems to be borne out in recent statements by government officials who warn that a quick plunge into ASEAN may overwhelm the country.

"Yes, we have a stake, a desire and an interest in ASEAN," First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said recently. "But at the same time, we have real and rightful concerns about the gap that still separates our country with other members of ASEAN in practically all fields concerning the life of the country."

True sovereignty and the economy topped his list.

"Cambodia ... has become a country totally dependent on the occidental superpowers and others," he said. "Never in contemporary history has Cambodia ever had so many 'masters and gurus.'

"This fact constitutes another great paradox of the peace plan for Cambodia, insofar as the same superpowers have spent three billion dollars so that our unfortunate country would become independent, a free and a sovereign one."

Prince Ranariddh noted that the six current members of ASEAN had already achieved total independence when they became members of the regional alliance and that Cambodia still had a long way to go, especially when it came to economic matters.

"The opening of borders and the free circulation of goods and services will create terrible economic and social pressures on Cambodia," he said.

Whether Cambodia's leaders will accept those pressures seems dependent on what ASEAN members can do for their country while it has observer status.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon told a conference on ASEAN in late June that, as an observer, Cambodia firmly expects to learn from the experiences of the other members.

"Your experiences can be enormous and instructive lessons for Cambodia to have a competitive advantage over time," he said. But he added that "if Cambodia will not be able to have a competitive edge in some areas, there will be a missing link in our chain of solidarity."

ASEAN representatives and Cambodian officials say that they are not in any hurry for the country to become a full member and they agree that the timing should be left up to Cambodia.

"It is always up to the country when it wants to join (as a full member)," Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said on a recent visit to Phnom Penh. "We hope it won't be too long, but ASEAN does not decide, only the country can do that."

If and when Cambodia decides to take that step may depend on just how confident it is of its own identity.