Tsunami disaster stirs debate on Asian unity

Tsunami disaster stirs debate on Asian unity

Mark McCord, Agence France-Presse/Hong Kong

The Asian tsunami disaster has been a uniquely continental
catastrophe, striking hard from Thailand to the Maldives, and has
stirred debate about how Asia should react as a region.

As well as demonstrating an ability to work together at a time
of trouble, Asian nations' responses to the tragedy suggested old
foes were prepared to put their historic enmity aside for the
greater good.

For instance, Japan has sent to Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh
region the largest overseas military deployment since World War
II without incurring warnings of renewed militancy that its other
foreign sorties have attracted.

Also, China has sought to demonstrate an Asian statesman role
commensurate with its rising economic stature by making huge
donations to the region-wide relief effort.

India, which was once on the brink of war with neighbor Sri
Lanka, has won over hearts and minds in both nations with its
prompt display of generosity towards its former rival's relief
effort.

And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
managed, within two weeks of the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster, to
shake off its reputation as an ineffectual talking shop with the
hasty arrangement of a multi-national relief summit in Jakarta.

In grief and tragedy, could the region finally be showing the
sort of unity Asian statesmen like Singapore founding father Lee
Kwan Yew and former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had
long dreamed of?

"I wouldn't say this brought Asia together, but it was the
first time a united Asia was able to display its bonds," says
Michael DeGolyer, professor of politics at Hong Kong's Baptist
University.

"I think what it shows is that the region has learned from the
previous tsunami -- the Asian financial crisis -- that it cannot
see itself as a collection of states; it is part of an
interdependent system."

DeGolyer considers "stunning", for instance, the huge sums of
money collected by ordinary Hong Kong citizens -- believed to be
the most per capita of anywhere in the world.

"Hong Kong was not harmed by this tsunami, but it was hit by
the financial tsunami," he said. "The people are much more aware
of their connections with the rest of Asia.

"The first tsunami showed that as it goes for the region, so
it goes for everybody and after being so badly hurt in the
financial crisis, I think Hong Kong found compassion and an
increased sense of identity."

Skeptics argue, however, that the response to the tsunami was
less an exercise in regional harmony and more an excuse for
states to make hay from the crisis.

Robert Broadfoot, risk analyst for the United States-based
risk assessment company PERC, believes that the tsunami has done
little to foster Asian togetherness.

"Asia is more unified now, but it's important to understand
that it is not just one big happy family," Broadfoot said from
his Hong Kong office. "Different countries are reacting
differently."

Japan, he says as an example, may lead the pack in donations
but it is deliberately acting in a manner that is angering China,
a nation Broadfoot believes sees itself as the future focus of
Asian leadership.

"Before the tsunamis, China was the country that the world was
looking to as a future Asian leader. Now Japan looks like the
most efficient regional force."

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has capitalized too on
the tsunami, Broadfoot says, leveraging the praise he received
for his prompt reaction to boost his poll ratings ahead of a
February election and to shore up his claim to be regarded as
Asia's senior statesman.

"It's just the way of the world -- people have selfish reasons
for getting involved. And sometimes it is going to compound
already existing problems," said Broadfoot.