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View all search resultsMyanmar: Rethinking ASEAN noninterference
The coup in Myanmar and escalating tensions in the disputed waters north of our Natuna Islands pose a two-front security issue for ASEAN.
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W
ith more than 50 killed and many more injured at the hands of security forces, the coup in Myanmar took a harrowing turn last week. Vain calls to “refrain from instigating further violence” from members of ASEAN on March 2 did not stop the security forces from firing live rounds at peaceful anticoup protesters the following day, killing 38 and wounding many others.
Last Wednesday marked a day that the United Nations has called the “bloodiest crackdown yet” on peaceful demonstrations. One cannot exaggerate the fear of escalating violence, plunging Myanmar into a fresh humanitarian crisis.
The unconstitutional takedown of Myanmar democracy and the jailing of its duly elected leaders on Feb. 1 adds to the regional tensions caused by the passing of China’s new Coast Guard Law, less than a fortnight earlier. Let me be perfectly clear: it would be an unwarrantable stretch to suggest that China should in any way be implicated in the coup and the ensuing violence in Myanmar.
But one would be remiss in failing to note that the jailing of Aung San Suu Kyi, the face of Myanmar’s democracy, took place on the same day China’s Coast Guard Law came into force. This law, which authorizes the use of weapons against foreign vessels, has triggered concerns from our ASEAN maritime neighbors namely Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Sure enough, the coup on Feb. 1 has turned all eyes on Myanmar and away from the contested waters north of our Natuna Islands.
Again, it would not be appropriate to point fingers at China for the bloodshed in Myanmar. However, the reality remains that ASEAN now is faced with an impending humanitarian crisis in Myanmar to the west and escalating maritime disputes to the east. These are indeed testing times for ASEAN and its founding principles. Non-interference, a sacrosanct ASEAN principle, can only go so far.
Yet, in my view, Indonesia should explore other avenues in tempering these conflicts.
First, unlike Vietnam and the Philippines, Indonesia is not currently in any direct maritime dispute with China. As such, we are buffered from direct contact with the Chinese Coast Guard, although not by much. To date, there are no indications that suggest China will expand its maritime claims beyond its rejection of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration verdict in favor of the Philippines.
