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EDITORIAL: ASEAN, 50 years later
The Manila summit shows that ASEAN needs strong leadership from Indonesia as the largest member of the association in dealing with not only internal challenges, like the Myanmar issue, but also external pressures.
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Southeast Asian leaders prepare to link arms as they pose for a family photo following their retreat in the 30th ASEAN Leaders' Summit Saturday, April 29, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. From left, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. (AP/Bullit Marquez)
T
he presence of Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the 30th ASEAN Summit in Manila over the weekend was definitely the strongest landmark of the regional grouping in welcoming its 50th anniversary on Aug. 8 this year. With its unique way, ASEAN has helped Myanmar abandon its dictatorship, embrace democracy and end its self-isolation.
No doubt Indonesia played a key, if not leading, role in persuading the Myanmar junta to cede power to civilians and let democracy flourish. They listened to Indonesia because both nations have much in common, particularly in the relationships between civilians and the military, regional and central governments, and majority and minority groups.
The Manila summit shows that ASEAN needs strong leadership from Indonesia as the largest member of the association in dealing with not only internal challenges, like the Myanmar issue, but also external pressures.
As an organization, ASEAN today is far from ideal. Its members vary: democracies such as Indonesia and the Philippines, a new democracy like Myanmar, lesser democratic states and an absolute monarchy. With all decisions made based on consensus and a non-interference principle strictly upheld, the 10-nation group has often been perceived as weak because its rules are strong only on paper, but unenforceable in the field.
As seen in the last few years, this year’s ASEAN summit was overshadowed by growing tensions in the South China Sea, where some ASEAN members and China have overlapping territorial claims. As the host, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte bowed to China’s pressure to remove the sensitive issue in the chairman’s statement, which was issued after the summit. It may look like weakness, but could also be considered a strength, because the decision prevented an open confrontation.
Regional peace and security was the vision of ASEAN when it was founded 50 years ago. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand formed ASEAN with an aim to cope with communist threats, while preventing the recurrence of internal conflicts within the region.
Then Indonesian foreign minister Adam Malik described Indonesia’s ambition to develop ASEAN as a regional group that “can stand on its own feet, strong enough to defend itself against any negative influence from outside the region.”
