ASEAN sets its own agenda with Myan

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Subject: ASEAN sets its own agenda with Myanmar

ASEAN sets its own agenda with Myanmar

T J Tan and agencies, Kuala Lumpur, 2nd June 1997
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ASEAN's decision to extend membership to Myanmar as well as Cambodia and Laos 
is a signal the organization has come of age in its 30th year and can 
withstand pressure from the West, political analysts said. 

Foreign ministers at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in 
Kuala Lumpur defied appeals from the West and from human rights organizations 
and decided on Saturday to admit the three remaining Southeast Asian countries 
into the group in July. 

The announcement was greeted with protests by critics who said it would only 
embolden the government in Yangon in its crackdown on pro-democracy activists 
led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

"My reading is that ASEAN thought it was time to make a clear stand and show 
it can make its own decisions," said M Rajendran, a political scientist at the 
University of Malaya. "It is a signal that ASEAN has come of age." 

He said the decision was a message to the United States, Europe and Japan, 
which had all cautioned the grouping against admitting Myanmar. 

"It also shows that within ASEAN members have the capacity to arrive at a 
consensus and project unity," he said, citing the way the group had reached a 
consensus despite some reservations over the timing of the expansion. 

Trade-driven ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, 
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The organization, founded in 1967, wanted to 
comprise all 10 of the region's countries in its 30th year. 

There were expectations that ASEAN would not admit the three until the 
December summit because of strong pressure from the US and other Western 
countries not to admit Myanmar. 

"Despite all the western opposition and some ASEAN reservations, it was clear 
that ASEAN wanted to make this happen on their 30th anniversary," said Dewi 
Fortuna Anwar, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. 

The Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun said ASEAN had made "Asian standards" a 
priority and added the admission of the three new members was aimed at 
distinguishing "Asian values from Western values". 

"Even a playboy can become a good husband after his marriage, with the 
family's help. That's the Asian way," the paper quoted Thai Foreign Minister 
Prachuab Chaiyasarn as saying. 

While some diplomats have said ASEAN's decision to admit Myanmar would 
undermine the respect it has earned in the West, Mohamed Ariff, a professor of 
economics at the University of Malaya, said Myanmar's admission was a 
non-issue as it had been on the cards for some time. The US was not against 
its entry, only the timing, he said. 

The group agreed last year to admit the three remaining Southeast Asian 
countries simultaneously. 

According to delegates to the weekend meeting, in Kuala Lumpur, Thailand and 
the Philippines were hesitant about the early admission of Cambodia because of 
political instability. But the two countries were ap- parently swayed by 
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas' argument that it was better to admit 
the three countries now rather than later as the political situation in 
Cambodia might not improve by December. 

"The sooner the better so that we can help them improve economically," said 
Raharjo Jamtomo, Indonesia's director-general for ASEAN affairs. 

Mohamed said isolating Myanmar could destabilize the region, adding that its 
membership could be both a liability and an asset to ASEAN. "Depending on how 
the cards are played, ASEAN can exert a positive influence on Myanmar and 
bring about rapid changes there," he said. 

ASEAN foreign ministers said they stood a better chance of reforming Myanmar 
if it were a member of the association. 

Alatas said ASEAN was now in a better position "to contribute to peace and 
stability in our own region as well as in the larger region of East Asia". 

Raharjo said the new members would have to conform to ASEAN norms, which would 
help foster peace and stability. 

Jusuf Wanandi, chairman of the supervisory board of Indonesia's Center for 
Strategic and International Studies, said it was important to admit Myanmar 
before it slipped back into isolationism or became too dependent on China. 

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