Political woes, nuke threat jeopardize Asia

Lilian Budianto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 11/19/2009 12:03 PM  |  World

Asia Pacific discourse: Carolina G. Hernandez, chair of the board of directors of the Philippine Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, (right), chats with World Bank former president Paul Wolfowitz, while US former ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce (second left) talks with chairman and CEO of the Malaysian Institute of Strategic and International Studies Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan after speaking at the Council for Security Cooperation at the Asia Pacific’s 7th General Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta. The talks ended Wednesday. JP/Nurhayati

Prolonged political woes and a looming nuclear threat in Asia continue to test the efforts of Southeast Asian nations to integrate a region divided over issues on human rights, democracy and economic gaps, a seminar in Jakarta heard Wednesday.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Thailand’s Institute of Security and International Studies, cited Wednesday the turmoil in Thailand, culminating in the cancelation of the East Asia Summit in April when protests forced the evacuation of Asian leaders from their hotels outside Bangkok.

The incident followed just months after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) proudly announced in December 2008 that its new ASEAN Charter had entered into force.

Thitinan said the next rotating chairs of ASEAN after Thailand might also pose similar challenges.

“Next year, the chair of ASEAN will be Vietnam, followed by Brunei and Cambodia. We are waiting to see what will follow,” said Thitinan at the end of a three-day international seminar on security in Asia organized by the Jakarta-based Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP).

Brunei Darussalam is under the rule of an absolute monarch, Laos and Vietnam have single-party systems, Myanmar is ruled by a military junta, Malaysia restricts political rights, mainly under its Internal Security Act, leaving Indonesia and the Philippines as somewhat fledgling democracies in the region of more than 570 million people.

“We welcome a movement toward democratic change anywhere,” said Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar
Hassan, chairman of Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies.

“Politics and democratic change is always very complex and difficult and most of the effort must
come from within, not from outside. Real change will only occur when domestic forces are the primary drive.”

Malaysia’s ruling National Front coalition suffered its worst election result during its 50-year rule last March, losing its two-thirds majority in parliament after the opposition won five of 13 states. Experts said the historically low votes for the ruling party expressed a public desire for change.

Besides political trouble, Asian nations are also facing security challenges after the deadlock in negotiations over the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear facilities. North Korea said it would resume the talks, which ended in a stalemate last December, if the US was willing to hold direct talks with Pyongyang.

North Korea sees the direct talks with the US as the key to solving a standoff, after Washington led a renewal of UN sanctions against Pyongyang following its second missile test.

“The most major Asian security issue is North Korea’s nuclear program as well as the rapid expansion of China’s military budget,” said Koji Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange.

North Korea says its pursuit of nuclear weapons was triggered by security concerns, arguing that it was surrounded by nuclear-wielding countries and US allies with hostile relations toward Pyongyang.

Watanabe said Asian security was underpinned by the presence of the US military through alliances with Japan and South Korea. Japan hosts 47,000 US military personnel, half of whom in Okinawa, but has planned a relocation as part of its alliance reorganization.

“Although there has been a constant review of the alliance, the US presence is essential to providing security in the region,” he said.

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