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ASEAN needs double-track diplomacy to solve Myanmar crisis
ASEAN is still, somehow, keeping open the doors for the junta in Myanmar to find itself a dignified way out of this mess.
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This handout photo of the ASEAN Summit on Oct. 27, 2021 shows Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah (center), Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (top left), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (top 2nd left) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (top 2nd R) taking part in the ASEAN-Plus Three Summit on the sidelines of the 2021 ASEAN Summit, held online on a live video conference in Brunei's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. (AFP/Handout)
S
hould the younger generation in Southeast Asia aspire to a hyper-connected digital future or to a future inspired and driven by values? Answering this question should be a no-brainer: youth should be enabled to thrive in a common space that ensures both.
After all, there is nothing that precludes an ASEAN community at the vanguard of digital technologies from remaining anchored to common principles enshrined in its foundation charter.
Unfortunately by observing how the latest ASEAN summit ended, it seems really that the leaders of this community are embracing one idea of a common future while rejecting and disregarding another one.
This is shameful and must be condemned.
You know what I am talking about: the final declaration issued by Brunei that somehow still welcomes Myanmar back in the near future. Everyone wants Myanmar back but to which country is Sultan Bolkiah referring? Is he talking about the junta’s Myanmar or the country that recognizes and dies for the National Unity Government (NUG)?
All this vagueness when the junta is shelling entire communities and deploying thousands of soldiers throughout the country with only one mission: quash the ordinary people simply because they dare to reject the junta’s usurpation of power.
ASEAN is still, somehow, keeping open the doors for the junta in Myanmar to find itself a dignified way out of this mess.
