Timely interference

Old habits die hard in countries where conservatism is entrenched, but recent events promise to push the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), toward a more interventionist approach to members' domestic affairs.

The past months have made the long-held noninterference tenet something of a nonstarter. Delegates to the ministerial meeting in the Philippines this week will find it hard to avoid that conclusion. No matter what form of words they choose to disguise any policy shift, or how forcefully older leaders like Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad resist, the organization cannot cleave to outdated procedures for much longer.

When refugees pour across borders and factional fighting spills into neighboring countries; when the haze from Indonesian fires brings Malaysian cities to a standstill, the troubles of other nations inevitably become one's own. But the real clincher is contained in the proposals for the week's agenda: urging Cambodia to ensure free and fair elections, formulating a statement condemning the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan, signing a joint declaration heralding a move toward a drug-free ASEAN.

With Burma (Myanmar) newly in their ranks, and traffickers as active as ever in the Golden Triangle between Thailand, Burma and Laos, that aim may prove unrealistic, but none of these goals can be achieved without harsh criticism of member states, so the old facade of consensus seems fated to crumble. Second Prime Minister Hun Sen lashed out at ASEAN in January for admitting Burma, while preaching democracy and human rights to Cambodia.

Few members are in a position to preach about either, and life for the Burmese has not improved since it was welcomed into the fold. In more practical matters, however, timely interference might have helped to contain problems of economy, ecology and health which spread between countries until the whole region was sick.

-- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong