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Laos and Burma/Myanmar in.. Cambodia out..
24th July 1997
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It's all over bar the shouting. Burma/Myanmar and Laos are in, and Cambodia
is out of the new ASEAN, with the formal admittance today of two new nations,
joining existing member states, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei.
Cambodias recent political problems was always going to make entry impossible and ceratinly the controversial entry remains Burma/Myanmar. According to various reports, Singapore and the Philippines expressed the most reservations, with Malaysia the most positive. Thailand, after threatening to be the major opponent early on, towards the end capitulated to the consensus. In the end, all member states saw the principles of having all regional states as members by their 30th anniversary as more important, (this was before the turn of events in Cambodia of course), and sending a message to the US that their opinion on Burma/Myanmar did not really matter. It will certainly be a more diverse ASEAN from now, with the entry of two relatively poor nations who have yet to join the tiger club league, and an even more diverse range of political systems. How well ASEAN can manage this now broader team is critical, and should become more obvious very soon. |
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