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Nation : Asean to tackle Thai propo



The Nation
July 22,1998
Asean to tackle Thai proposal

MANILA -- Asean foreign ministers will meet informally tomorrow to discuss
Thailand's proposal of flexible engagement after senior Asean officials
failed to reach a consensus despite intense discussions. 

Philippine Foreign Under-secretary Lauro Baja said Tuesday that some of the
officials, meeting informally on Monday over dinner, were wary of the
proposed policy shift. 

However, he said that the issue would be tackled head on by the foreign
ministers, who he said ''have greater latitude, greater freedom of thought
than the senior officials''. 

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan is expected to lead the discussion and
present the Thai rationale behind the flexible engagement. 

Thailand and the Philippines have openly advocated a shift from
non-intervention to ''flexible engagement'', which would provide Asean
member countries with greater opportunities to become involved in issues
occurring in another member country. 

Surin proposed last month that Asean should review its long-standing policy
of non-intervention. The proposed shift comes as Southeast Asian countries
are becoming more aware that problems in one nation, such as currency
devaluations, political unrest or environmental degradation, often affect
their neighbours. 

Baja said that senior Asean officials had exchanged views on the question
of Asean cohesion, relevance and competitiveness in the light of changing
needs of the region. 

He said he did not expect a consensus on the new approach, which Manila
says would bring the 31-year-old organisation's practices closer to those
of the European Union. 

At the meeting Tuesday Saroj Chavanaviraj, Thai permanent secretary for
foreign affairs, clarified that Asean had already practiced flexible
engagement in handling the financial crisis and haze problems and so should
be able to discuss political issues that had implications for the region
and the grouping. 

''If a problem emanating from one country affects the other countries, of
course it is the habit of Asean to discuss an agreement'' among Asean
members, Indonesian Foreign Ministry official Nugroho Wisnamurti said,
adding that Indonesia would not tolerate anybody intervening in the East
Timor issue. 

Asked if the ''flexible'' approach was relevant in the Asean context, Baja
said: ''That is a policy question which only the ministers can decide when
they meet on July 23'' at a working dinner prior to the formal meeting. 

Thailand, worried about political turmoil on its borders, and the
Philippines brought the issue to a head. 

Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, and Malaysia have sharply criticised the
proposal, although the Philippines claims it was Kuala Lumpur's maverick
Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim who sowed the seeds of the idea. 

Senior officials, consisting of deputy foreign ministers and
under-secretaries, met at a two-day, closed-door session to prepare a joint
communique for the Asean foreign ministers, scheduled to meet at the
central Manila Hotel on Friday. 

Baja said the ministers would make a statement in the communique on the
regional crisis, with specific reference to Japan. He would not elaborate. 

Tokyo's slide into recession is a major concern for Asean, a major trading
partner of Japan, though diplomatic sources say there is resistance to a
proposal for Asean to openly criticise the Asian economic power. 

Meanwhile Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said in Bangkok
that the Thai proposal was not intended to demolish Asean's cardinal
principle of non-interference. ''The wording might be a bit confusing, but
we just want to find a new acceptable mode of behaviour for Asean,'' he
claimed. 

He said the proposal might need further deliberation up until the sixth
Asean Summit in Vietnam in December. According to Kobsak the proposal was
within the context of Asean Vision 2020 and Plan of Actions to strengthen
the grouping which the summit would have to endorse. 

''Our economic success used to be the backbone of our strength, but now
it's gone. So we need other things to maintain our strength in
international negotiations,'' Kobsak said. 

''Through frank and open dialogues among ourselves we can strengthen
Asean's solidarity and maintain viability,'' he suggested. 

''If we can engage in dialogues with non-Asean countries about sensitive
issues, why shouldn't we be able to talk among ourselves?'' he asked. 

The Asean meeting will be expanded next Monday to include Asia's main
security players, including the United States, China and Russia, followed
by two days of talks between Asean and its main trading partners, including
the US, Canada, Australia and the European Union. 

Asean began to stretch its non-intervention policy last year when it
postponed Cambodia's bid for membership because of a coup, led by
co-premier Hun Sen. Since then Asean has urged the Cambodian government to
normalise its politics by holding elections, which are scheduled for July
26, during the Asean meetings. 



The Nation, Agencies