Nation : Ministers reaffirm Asean's

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The Nation, Agence France-Presse
July 24, 1998

Ministers reaffirm Asean's non-intervention principle

MANILA -- After a heated debate, foreign ministers last night reaffirmed
Asean's non-interference principle but vowed to deepen cooperation among
members. 

The consensus was reached among the foreign ministers who agreed to
disagree on Thailand's proposal of flexible engagement, which encourages
member states to speak frankly about each other's problems. 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said that Asean's non-interference
principle will not be replaced with anything else. 

However, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan downplayed the opposition by other
Asean countries, except the Philippines, saying there was no problem. 

''It's just a family adjustment. Some family members would like to see
adjustments to changing times and changing circumstances, new realities.
That's all,'' he said, adding Asean would discuss the rationale behind the
proposal. 

He also distributed a three-page document outlining the rationale of the
flexible engagement approach. 

The initiative behind flexible engagement has stirred strong sentiments
from Asean members and dominated much of the discussions ahead of the
two-day annual meeting, starting Friday. 

The strongest objection came from Indonesia to the proposal which it said
would change the nature of Asean way. 

''If we start intervening in one another's internal affairs, we will create
mutual suspicion and tension especially when we do it publicly,'' Alatas
said before an informal dinner. 

''If the proposition is to now talk publicly about internal problems we
will be back to when Asean was not formed, when Southeast Asia was full of
tension, mutual suspicion, and only because Asean was created, we have had
more than 30 years of stability, of common progress,'' he told journalists.


Other Asean members also rejected the proposal saying it was a drastic
change in the group's political culture. ''I will not support it. I prefer
the policy of non-intervention,'' Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi said. 

Singapore Foreign Minister S Jayakumar said he agreed with Abdullah and
Alatas saying ''that there is no need to change established principles that
have served Asean well''. 

Asean groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its political systems range from military
rule in Burma to US-style democracy in the Philippines. 

Brunei Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah said: ''I think we still like the
Asean as we are now.'' 

Vietnam and Burma earlier aired their objections to any change in
established policy. 

An Asean participant said Thailand's proposal has come at the wrong time
when the organisation is less strong and countries are facing problems. 

''Any discussion which is bound to create a divergent view will be rejected
because Asean cannot afford to have a split among the members countries,''
he said. 

Surin and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Badawi held extensive
discussion on flexible engagement during their bilateral talks prior to the
working dinner. 

Badawi had earlier responded to the question by saying that the issue
seemed dead. 

''It appears so, the success of Asean's cooperation is that we have to be
comfortable, any feelings that you will be criticised or pointed at you
will not be comfortable. We all have similar cultures. In our culture, we
cannot embarrass our friends in public. We must have confidence in our
culture,'' he said. 

Malaysia does not want Asean to steer away from its principle and its
position is that the Asean approach is still relevant as it relates to
building consensus, maintaining cohesion, avoiding confrontation and
adhering to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of
other member states. 

''Building consensus and maintaining cohesion remain essential to the
promotion of regional solidarity and cooperation, one of the main
objectives for the establishment of Asean. Given the diversity in Asean,
setting aside the consensus principle would be to usher in a divided and
fractious Asean,'' a Malaysian statement issued last week said. 

Thailand's proposal was first mentioned at an academic meeting in Kuala
Lumpur by Surin. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar
Ibrahim had also reflected a similar idea. 

At the seminar Surin spoke of the political reform in Thailand and in
Indonesia, which has just begun, saying that the rest of Asean member
states could afford to remain ''idle, unmoved and defiant against the
forces of change sweeping across the region''. 

An Asean senior officer said Thailand should have moved more cautiously
through low profile diplomatic lobbying. It should have discussed with
various Asean members before speaking to public. 



BY RITA PATIYASEVI 



The Nation, Agence France-Presse