Proud postures prop a still-fragile ASEAN

Proud postures prop a still-fragile ASEAN

(ASEAN's) strength has lain in quiet consensus-building to
resolve issues rather than head-on confrontation. This was and
remains a necessity rather than a virtue because sensitivities
still exist; some are too deeply-rooted, with historical as well
as racial implications. Unity, coupled with economic success, has
given the bloc considerable clout on the world stage. To the
point where it can stand up to American pressure on issues like
human rights and Burma, and even to staking claims to a permanent
seat in the United Nations Security Council. But, as recent
conflicts between Singapore and Malaysia, Singapore and the
Philippines as well as between Malaysia and Indonesia show, ASEAN
is still a fragile entity. Some deep-rooted suspicions are merely
suppressed.

This is implicit in the studious avoidance of comment on each
other's internal affairs, the slow advance toward a common free-
trade zone and the gingerly efforts toward cross-boundary
infrastructure projects.

If 30 years marks the completion of an entire generation, as
ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh noted in an anniversary
speech, then it may take another couple of generations before
ASEAN will arrive at the sort of union that the European
community has achieved.

And that is only if all the countries within the group keep
pace with each other in economic progress. Given the internal
pressures building up in Indonesia and one or two other member
states, that is not a guaranteed outcome. ASEAN leaders might
consider working harder at these internal problems than striking
poses on the world stage.

-- The Hong Kong Standard