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ASEAN urges Thailand, Cambodia to end row
ASEAN has called on Thailand and Cambodia to end their row over a fugitive Thai ex-PM ahead of the first ASEAN-US summit, saying increased bickering could see the grouping lose its clout in the region
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SEAN has called on Thailand and Cambodia to end their row over a fugitive Thai ex-PM ahead of the first ASEAN-US summit, saying increased bickering could see the grouping lose its clout in the region.
The row began after Cambodia offered former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra a position as economic adviser. The offer has angered Thailand, which is seeking the tycoon's return on charges of corruption.
The dispute led to the recalling of the Thai ambassador last week and a tit-for-tat move by Cambodia.
Speaking before foreign ambassadors in Jakarta on Monday, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the grouping could not afford to spoil its image as one of peaceful nations, after Washington agreed to accede to its 1976 security treaty.
Washington signed in July the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), in which 26 signatories pledged peaceful settlement of disputes and non-interference in domestic affairs.
"We in ASEAN cannot afford to be seen as being so seriously divided prior to the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders and the historic ASEAN-US meeting in Singapore this month," Pitsuwan said.
The ASEAN-US summit will take place on Nov. 15 after the APEC meeting. The meeting will discuss further actions after the US signing of the TAC, as well as follow up on the 2006 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between ASEAN and the United States.
The results of a recent meeting between US officials and Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi will also be on the agenda in the summit that brings together US President Barack Obama and leaders of the 10 ASEAN member states.
"I took the liberty of reminding them that we have our own procedures," Pitsuwan said.
"Any dispute that has nothing to do with economic disputes shall be referred to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. Article 16 stipulates that parties to the treaties can and are even obliged to offer all possible support in the disputes."
ASEAN members have traditionally refrained from interfering in the domestic affairs of other members, preferring instead to settle any disputes bilaterally or beyond the ASEAN mechanism, partly because ASEAN does not yet have a definitive conflict-resolution mechanism.
Thailand and Cambodia are still mired in a border dispute and have resorted to the UN for settlement.
"Cambodia's move *to appoint an opponent of the Thai government as its adviser* has sent signals of what its government is capable of doing in case it has to lose in the border dispute," said an official at the ASEAN Secretariat on condition of anonymity.
"Cambodia doesn't have much leverage in the world and the defiance is considered important to raise their bargaining power. They want to tell people what options they have when facing disputes."
The dispute comes at a time when the 42-year-old ASEAN is being wooed to form new groupings, in proposals floated by prime ministers of Australia and Japan.
The two are looking to the East Asian Summit, which groups ASEAN with Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, to seek support for ideas of establishing an Asia Pacific Community and East Asian Community respectively.
ASEAN says it is interested in learning more about the new concept, although experts say the new groupings could rival ASEAN's influences on the world stage.
