The Pnom Penh summit
The Pnom Penh summit
It will be a very encouraging moment for the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when Cambodian
Prime Minister Hun Sen hosts the ASEAN summit on Monday in Pnom
Penh. One day he will later lead the meeting of the 10 regional
leaders with the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India and
South Africa.
International news services reported the concern of foreign
diplomats over whether Cambodia, a country with a reputation for
lawlessness and notorious crime, could protect its guests during
the summit. To a certain extent the concern makes sense, but in
view of the country's past difficulties, the summit itself is
already a great achievement. The situation in Pnom Penh is also
no more chaotic than it is in Jakarta.
Hun Sen, whose country was regarded for years as a pariah
state during the genocidal 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge regime and
the years of civil war that followed, will preside over the
meeting to discuss the strategy against security threats for the
region and for the world.
When Vietnamese troops drove out Pol Pot in 1979, Vietnam
installed a Hanoi-backed government to replace the pro-China
reign, which had allegedly butchered up to 2 million people.
Slowly Hun Sen proved to the world that he was not just a puppet
of Vietnam. He was eventually able to convince his political
enemies, even Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, that they had to
deal with him in resolving the problems of Cambodia.
With Indonesia as its main promoter, ASEAN set up peace
negotiations. In October 1991, a solution was reached when
Indonesia and France jointly presided over the Paris Conference
on Cambodia. In 1993 Hun Sen's party won the UN-organized general
elections.
However, only six years later was Cambodia able to join ASEAN,
due to its unresolved internal conflicts. In 1999 ASEAN leaders
might have believed that Cambodia would be its youngest member.
However, again they were wrong, because in the same year East
Timor decided to separate from Indonesia and later expressed a
wish to join the group.
There are, possibly, mixed feelings among Indonesian leaders
about Cambodia. Indonesia prides itself as a key peace broker for
Cambodia, but at the same time it is ironic that President
Megawati Soekarnoputri might need advice from Hun Sen on how to
lead a chaotic country.
As at last year's, the terrorism issue will dominate the two-
day meeting. Indonesia has not only virtually lost its leadership
in ASEAN: At this summit Megawati will also face heavy pressure
from other leaders, including Malaysia, Singapore and the
Philippines, to do much more in combating terrorism in her
country.
Our neighbors can no longer just wait for Megawati's wisdom.
Their national security has been in great danger, and they will
do everything to stop the threats.
It will be interesting to observe what Hun Sen will say about
Indonesia when he hands his chairmanship over to Megawati. It is
ironic that he may use the same advice he received from then
president Soeharto during the war and peace process in Cambodia.
Finally, we hope the summit will reach a significant agreement
in restoring peace, security and prosperity for the region.