Keeping to ASEAN's 'rules of the game'

Keeping to ASEAN's 'rules of the game'

Vietnam's membership and the likely entry of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar bring certain challenges to ASEAN.

By Hoang Anh Tuan

After decades of competing with ASEAN in establishing a regional order, Vietnam finally joined the regional organization in July 1995. As ASEAN is an established grouping, Vietnam's entry into it means that Hanoi has agreed to accept the norms and rules of the game set by the association.

However, as Vietnam accepts ASEAN's rules of the game, other members have to make adjustments to the new member. Furthermore, as ASEAN intends to expand to incorporate all countries of South- east Asia in order to cope with the changing regional order in the post-Cold War era, these changes in the workings, functions and organization of ASEAN will take a few years to work themselves out, as compared with the stability ASEAN experienced since its inception in 1967, with only a small change in 1984, when Brunei became a member.

As for Vietnam, it has warmed to ASEAN since Hanoi officially endorsed the renovation policy or doi moi in 1986. Vietnam's signing of the Bali Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 1992 was another indication that Vietnam pledged to observe the regional status quo and accept the ground rules for regional order set by the ASEAN countries.

These gestures of goodwill were the initial and necessary steps required for Vietnam to become an official member of ASEAN. Since joining ASEAN in 1995, Vietnam has, in the words of Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam, undertaken "to fulfill all obligations and responsibilities of a member country according to the targets, objectives, principles and documents and regulations that have been clearly specified in the ASEAN basic documents, including its joining in AFTA".

Thus, as part of ASEAN, Vietnam -- aside from observing and undertaking responsibilities required of a member -- will have to learn more about "ASEAN togetherness"; the ASEAN spirit of settling disputes; the tradition of give-and-take; and mushawarah and mufakat (consultation and consensus). This will not only require time and great effort from Vietnam in its bilateral and multilateral relations, but will also affect the speed of the association's expansion.

In nearly three decades of existence and development, ASEAN members have developed codes of conduct in settling contradictions and disputes, according to which political and economic problems have been resolved through established guidelines and mutual consultations. Consultation and consensus- building is considered one of ASEAN's strengths and, where views have differed, member-states have agreed to disagree or to put aside issues for resolution at a later time.

In the post-Cold War era, ASEAN should continue to consolidate the norms and rules of the game, and seek consensus among members on major regional security and economic issues such as taking the lead in setting the agenda for the ASEAN Regional Forum; settling the contending claims to the Spratly Islands; and promoting economic cooperation in the form of AFTA, in order to have a strong voice heard in regional and international affairs.

In such activities, ASEAN would be seen to expand its own political and economic base for other countries in Southeast Asia to join the grouping eventually. Vietnam's entry is seen as a positive step for the future integration of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar before the turn of the century.

However, the expansion of membership brings with it problems. ASEAN-6 had already found it difficult to reach consensus on major issues, such as on how far and quickly to implement the Preferential Trade Agreements. These discussions hindered ASEAN economic cooperation in the 1970s and 1980s. The varying perceptions of China in the early 1980s, specially with regard to diametrically opposed positions between Malaysia and Indonesia, on the one hand, and Thailand, on the other, are bound to continue to occupy a prominent place in the evolution of ASEAN.

This does not mean that the consensual modus operandi which helped to cohere ASEAN members in the past is likely to be replaced soon. Neither should it necessarily be linked to Vietnam's entry into ASEAN. Such changes will certainly come along, sooner or later, and ASEAN members might have to facilitate this operational reality.

The difficulties associated with enlarged membership become clear if one takes the example of Vietnam becoming a part of the AFTA process. Because of the gap in economic development between Vietnam and other members, and the fact that AFTA has already been agreed upon and implemented by members since Jan. 1, 1993, ASEAN has unanimously agreed that Vietnam would fulfill the goals enshrined in AFTA by the year 2006, instead of 2003 as for the other ASEAN countries.

Thus, by extension, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar should be allowed to fulfill the goals of AFTA at a later time, probably 2010, once they become members of ASEAN. But are the ASEAN members willing to allow this? And if so, how can all ASEAN members seek consensus on future economic issues, while some have maximized the goals of AFTA and want to turn to the next stage of economic cooperation, and others have not and are not willing to do so?

The suggestion of lack of accord by ASEAN members is similarly evident when we consider the Spratlys dispute between China and some ASEAN countries. While the ASEAN claimants would want to gain strong support from the association, non-claimant ASEAN states do not attach a high priority to this issue in their foreign policy agenda. Unless there is a clear and immediate direct threat, which is unlikely over the next 10 or 15 years to the national security of any particular member, it is difficult to attain a clear position from ASEAN on the issue.

Acknowledging these apparent difficulties of an expanding organization and dealing with them by adapting the organization to make it more flexible, and making the rules of the game more transparent, would help ASEAN cope with the challenges ahead.

Hoang Anh Tuan is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.