The Phnom Penh meeting

The Phnom Penh meeting

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen opened on Monday the two-day
annual foreign ministerial meeting of the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh. After the
meeting, 10 other countries will join ASEAN in the ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF). The guests include the United States, Japan, China,
South Korea, North Korea and India.

The detention of Myanmar's political leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
the threat of terrorism in the region, Indonesia's demands that
her neighbors support the country's territorial integrity
regarding Aceh and its war against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)
in the rebellious province featured foremost in the first
meeting. Meanwhile, the agenda of ARF will be more dominated by
the interests of the non-ASEAN participants, especially the
threat of a nuclear-capable North Korea, safe passage in the
Strait of Malacca and, of course, terrorism.

In regards with Suu Kyi, we are of the opinion that it is
shameful for ASEAN because it has not been able in the last 13
years to convince Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) to hand over power to the Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, whose National League for Democracy (NLD)
overwhelmingly won the last SLORC-supervised general election in
1990.

As influential members of the group -- such as Indonesia,
Malaysia and Singapore -- still stick to the outdated principle
of non-interference, it appears that only a miracle can save Suu
Kyi from her current misery. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
has vowed to assure the release Suu Kyi from detention. However,
when ASEAN shows so little interest in her release, other
countries cannot expect much from Powell's promise.

On Aceh, Indonesia can anticipate strong support from her
neighbors because sentiment against terrorism is high in the
region, as recently displayed by Thailand and Cambodia, where
Muslim terrorists have stepped up operations despite the
worldwide antiterrorism campaign. The international community has
expressed concern over the increasing piracy in the Strait of
Malacca, and the possibility of the war in Aceh spilling over not
just to the strait but also to neighboring countries.

Again we must also remind the Indonesian government that peace
in Aceh will be determined more by its deeds toward the Acehnese
and not by the repeated pledges of support by other countries.

How about the ARF meeting? The role of ASEAN ministers in the
meeting will no doubt overshadow those from guest countries. The
threat of North Korea's nuclear capability will surely be among
the hottest topics discussed in the forum. Despite Powell's
repeated assurances, a military solution to deal with Pyongyang
cannot be ruled out completely, as was the case with Iraq.

ASEAN and the United States are also expected to endorse a
five-point counterterrorism work plan. The list includes the
improvement of intelligence and terrorist financing information
sharing, and the tackling of the flow of terrorist material,
money and people.

We do hope that ASEAN members will be successful in
eradicating the roots of terrorism and not just the symptoms of
the disease, nor be aimed at merely pleasing the United States.
There is also fear that the threat of terrorist could be abused
by regional leaders as a pretext to crack down on political
opponents.

There are many people who question the relevance of ASEAN due
to drastic global changes over the year and the weakening of the
country members, and that the ASEAN meetings, from summit to
ministerial gatherings, have become more ceremonial than
substantial. This opinion should not be lightly shrugged off,
because to a certain extent there is some truth to it.

The ASEAN foreign ministers' success to ensure at least the
release of Suu Kyi will be a key test of the regional group's
credibility, because her party won a democratic general election.
She is not just an opposition leader, and her party's win in 1990
was recognized by the military.

We hope that the ASEAN meeting will be able to achieve
concrete progress for the sake of ASEAN's prosperity and
political stability, and not just produce meaningless papers and
high-sounding programs, as alleged by some critics.