EDITORIAL
Bangkok Post
Life begins at 40, says an optimistic old song, but so does a mid-life crisis. Over the past three days, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations made a real effort to revitalise the group before its 40th anniversary later this year. Results remain to be seen. But the Philippine organisers and all participants deserve major credit. For the first time in recent memory, an Asean summit has produced meaningful debate. The Cebu summit has set objectives that would not simply renew Asean credibility. They truly could make life healthier and more prosperous for 550 million Asean citizens.
The past 20 years have not been good ones for Asean. Immediately after its 1967 formation by the five founders - Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines - the group was charged with energy. Over the next 10 years, Asean forged more cross-border agreements and meaningful diplomatic activity than in all the previous history of the five neighbours. In 1979, Asean took the world lead in opposing and eventually defeating Vietnam's military occupation of Cambodia. With the cold war over, the Hanoi retreat opened Asean to membership by all Southeast Asian countries.
That expansion was Asean's last memorable achievement. It has slipped off the world stage, reduced to making twice-yearly cameo appearances during biannual meetings. These have fallen into two predictable types: the meetings which produced spectacular statements without follow-up, or those which "furthered relations" without drama or action. Does anyone remember the achievements of the 2006 Asean meetings? Of course not.
The Cebu conferences will be remembered first of all for taking international terrorism seriously. The five years of Asean debate over how to deal with this mortal threat have been disappointing and stultified. All 10 countries now have agreed to a legally binding agreement to hunt, prosecute and extradite terrorists. Another pact mandates sharing of information on health problems such as bird flu. And by 2015, free trade will be pretty much the rule throughout Asean. Expect this agreement to spark heavy opposition from anti-trade advocates and activists in virtually every Asean nation, not to mention China, Korea and Japan. The leaders who agreed to advance both Asean and East Asian free trade within eight years will have to fight for it. They should accept no delays or setbacks at home.
Just as meaningful, if less dramatic, was the agreement to work towards political unity. The Cebu summit took the correct stand to work towards becoming a political entity. The first constitution is to be completed this year. Call it Asean's version of the European Union.
Yesterday's meeting also added Australia and New Zealand to the East Asia mix. Seen in advance as something of an anti-climax to the Cebu summit, Monday's 15-nation session was instead a reasoned attempt to address global warming. Participants resisted temptation to showboat, and instead came up with a reasonable call for investments in technology that will advance renewable energy and, in the process, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. As a bonus, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accepted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's invitation to visit Japan _ a high-profile Asean diplomatic coup.
International cooperation is easy to expound at a meeting, but difficult to put into practice at home. There will be two tests of the success of this Asean summit. The first will be fairly quick and easy to judge: Will the leaders follow up on their promises of better cooperation, and insist strongly that national officials implement them?
The second test begins immediately but will take time to show results. The Asean summit mandated unprecedented action against terrorists, regional development that will draw heavy opposition from nationalists in all countries, and free trade within eight years. Whether the summit participants start working immediately on these promises made at Cebu will ultimately decide what began at 40 for Asean - a meaningful life, or a long, uneventful slowdown leading to old age.
The past 20 years have not been good ones for Asean. Immediately after its 1967 formation by the five founders - Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines - the group was charged with energy. Over the next 10 years, Asean forged more cross-border agreements and meaningful diplomatic activity than in all the previous history of the five neighbours. In 1979, Asean took the world lead in opposing and eventually defeating Vietnam's military occupation of Cambodia. With the cold war over, the Hanoi retreat opened Asean to membership by all Southeast Asian countries.
That expansion was Asean's last memorable achievement. It has slipped off the world stage, reduced to making twice-yearly cameo appearances during biannual meetings. These have fallen into two predictable types: the meetings which produced spectacular statements without follow-up, or those which "furthered relations" without drama or action. Does anyone remember the achievements of the 2006 Asean meetings? Of course not.
The Cebu conferences will be remembered first of all for taking international terrorism seriously. The five years of Asean debate over how to deal with this mortal threat have been disappointing and stultified. All 10 countries now have agreed to a legally binding agreement to hunt, prosecute and extradite terrorists. Another pact mandates sharing of information on health problems such as bird flu. And by 2015, free trade will be pretty much the rule throughout Asean. Expect this agreement to spark heavy opposition from anti-trade advocates and activists in virtually every Asean nation, not to mention China, Korea and Japan. The leaders who agreed to advance both Asean and East Asian free trade within eight years will have to fight for it. They should accept no delays or setbacks at home.
Just as meaningful, if less dramatic, was the agreement to work towards political unity. The Cebu summit took the correct stand to work towards becoming a political entity. The first constitution is to be completed this year. Call it Asean's version of the European Union.
Yesterday's meeting also added Australia and New Zealand to the East Asia mix. Seen in advance as something of an anti-climax to the Cebu summit, Monday's 15-nation session was instead a reasoned attempt to address global warming. Participants resisted temptation to showboat, and instead came up with a reasonable call for investments in technology that will advance renewable energy and, in the process, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. As a bonus, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accepted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's invitation to visit Japan _ a high-profile Asean diplomatic coup.
International cooperation is easy to expound at a meeting, but difficult to put into practice at home. There will be two tests of the success of this Asean summit. The first will be fairly quick and easy to judge: Will the leaders follow up on their promises of better cooperation, and insist strongly that national officials implement them?
The second test begins immediately but will take time to show results. The Asean summit mandated unprecedented action against terrorists, regional development that will draw heavy opposition from nationalists in all countries, and free trade within eight years. Whether the summit participants start working immediately on these promises made at Cebu will ultimately decide what began at 40 for Asean - a meaningful life, or a long, uneventful slowdown leading to old age.
2 comments:
If the creation of ASEAN for the purpose to make the Vietcong and the Thaicong in line with civilize nation on Earth then I am all for it!!!!
Yeah, but no one is asking you for
anything. ASEAN will do what they
want to do.
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