Mustaqim Adamrah
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Experts are praising Indonesia’s leadership of ASEAN this year while voicing concerns that incoming chair Cambodia may not do as well and may not use the office neutrally to resolve its border disputes with Thailand.
University of Indonesia international relations expert Syamsul Hadi said on Tuesday that granting ASEAN’s rotating chair to Myanmar in 2014 would have political implications for the region, and particularly for China.
“ASEAN has entrusted Myanmar to chair ASEAN in 2014, but has given it notice that it has to undertake needed steps toward democracy. This is also in line with US strategy,” he said.
Syamsul said that Myanmar might be a more open country and may not entirely be on the same page with China if it carried out its democracy agenda.
“There will be a change in the political constellation, where the US and democratic countries in ASEAN might make China feel more ‘alienated’. China’s political influence might be less and less because Myanmar has now increasingly been welcomed with open arms by ASEAN and its dependency on China is more or less declining,” Hadi said.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, the chairwoman of the Habibie Center’s Institute for Democracy and Human Rights and a special advisor to Vice President Boediono, said US support of Myanmar’s bid should be seen as a vote of confidence in ASEAN and not a lowering of American standards.
“It’s not just the US giving a blank check to Myanmar. [US President Barack] Obama wants to see even more progress … Obama’s even sending his secretary of state to Myanmar,” she said.
Obama previously said the US was concerned about Myanmar’s closed political system, treatment of minorities, detention of political prisoners and relationship with North Korea.
“We want to seize what might be a historic opportunity for progress, and make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America,” Obama said on Friday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali.
Hillary Clinton will be the first US secretary of state to go to Myanmar in over half a century. Clinton will explore what kinds of assistance the US can provide to promote political reform in Myanmar.
Teuku Rezasyah, a researcher at the Indonesian Center of Democracy, Diplomacy and Defense, said that ASEAN had proven itself to be “bonafide, credible and acceptable to the West” during its chairmanship.
“ASEAN has successfully made the US think over whether they want to continue criticizing Myanmar and push it even closer to China [...] or invite Myanmar to learn together with ASEAN how to be a modern democratic country,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesia symbolically handed ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship to Cambodia last week in Bali.
Rezasyah, however, was concerned that Cambodia would not be neutral in heading ASEAN due to the nation’s border disputes with Thailand.
“It will probably be hard for Cambodia not to use its chairmanship and to act as a fair chairman in border disputes with Thailand,” Rezasyah said.
Syamsul agreed, saying Cambodia might use ASEAN’s bully pulpit to press Thailand, which has refused to bring its disputes to ASEAN due to its superior position in a bilateral framework.
“As ASEAN has a number of different functions, it’s the responsibility of members who have more capacity to help members who have less capacity,” Dewi said.
12 comments:
Of course Cambodia can. We trust our people and they are able. The rebuilding of democracy for our country is not easy, because some of us did not really understand so well about the fundamental of another freedom. But Cambodia and the Khmer people will able to resolve this problem very soon.
We have our own good democracy 1000 years before of some of others, that was built by our Khmer ancestor. This democracy was very well organized and fit to the Khmer society. Now we confront with the new one and it is really hard for the Khmer people to accept something different.
everytime cambodia is hosting international meeting or conference, it is a test for us. when we succeeded on hosting, then we pass the test and should be fully integrated onto the world stage again. i'm sure there are lots of issues to talk about, preah vihear, if raised, will not be the only issue to discuss. cambodia wants to uphold the rule of law.
of course we can! we can learn from other asean countries, too, you know!
Welcome to the Banana Kingdom!
2:56 PM
Banana Kingdom is still better than your fuck kingdom.
AH Teuku Rezasyah is so concerned that Cambodia is not neutral in border dispute with Thailand once Cambodia takes the Chairmanship! As a member of ASEAN, Cambodia will be treated fairly with respect! So far ASEAN allowed Thailand to invade Cambodia without consequence!
Well! What about AH Surin Pitsuwan a Thai citizen who is a secretary general of ASEAN and has he been neutral in the border dispute with Cambodia? Of course not! Why Ah Teuku Rezasyah is only concerned with Cambodia and not Thailand?
======================================================================ifferent functions, it’s the responsibility of members who have more capacity to help members who have less capacity,” Dewi said.
=The above statement is a slogan to make the ASEAN look good! Tell me when Thailand invaded Cambodia and who is helping who? Cambodia was left out in the cold to defend for itself! The weak member of the ASEAN like Cambodia will be stepped on again and again until one day Cambodia distance itself from the ASEAN!
AH KWAK is so concern about Thailand border dispute that he apologizes to them. AH KWAK is the best leader ever!! THANK YOU AH KWAK!
How about the dispute with ah Yuon and Khmer Kampuchea Krom include Koh Trol can we retake it back from ah Yuon too.
easier said than done. if indonesia had a conflict with another asean country, and would not use any opportunity to resolve the conflict with indonesian interests in mind, that would not be so smart.
asean has a long way to go, cambodia can help straighten asean as a responsible community of nations in this region of the world, you know! more power to cambodia! god bless cambodia.
3:05! your parents stupid or what?
first of all i would like to appologize to ki-media for using the site to let people know Khmer Sovannaphumi- known as Pang Sokheoun, n his mistress Sokunthear Som have been reported to FBI agent n FB's adminstration for stealing n posting someone pic in their wall without the owner consent to defame them..further more they both wrongly accused that same person of created his Pang Sokheoun id, N Tha Van id, they both have been cursed, n will be brought to justice..i have been in contact with Cambodian Goverment to make sure both of them will not be able to enter cambodia without arrest for their cyber crime....i hope to see their dirty bastard asses soon in court..
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