SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Lebanon, Terrorism Equal Concerns for ASEAN

By Baradan Kuppusamy Reprint | | Print |

Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 25 2006 (IPS) - Israeli military operations in Lebanon and global terrorism were prime concerns as the 39th ministerial meeting of the ten-member ASEAN regional grouping got off to a start in the Malaysian capital on Tuesday.

“We must contribute to the fight against international terrorism,” said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, current chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma. These countries have a combined population of 500 million people.

But Badawi, in an inaugural speech, hit out hard at the ”collective punishment inflicted upon the Lebanese people and the destruction of towns and cities”. ASEAN, he said, should make its ‘’voices heard loudly and clearly on the plight of the Palestinian people,” he added.

So far, 378 people have been killed in Lebanon as also 41 Israelis in a conflict, triggered on Jul. 12 by the Shiite militant group Hizbollah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers.

While Malaysia is predominantly Muslim, another ASEAN member Indonesia happens to be the world’s most populous Muslim country. On the other hand, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines maintain close diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.

Badawi demanded that the United Nations Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire and move to prevent an invasion of Lebanon by Israel. ”The international community,” he said, ”cannot continue to evade its responsibility of finding a comprehensive, just and durable solution which should include bringing into being an independent state of Palestine, living side by side with Israel in peace, within secure and recognized borders.”

One of the focuses of the meet is the safety of the vitally important Straits of Malacca, the main passage way between the Indian and the Pacific oceans.

The straits links together three of the world’s most populous nations – India, Indonesia and China – and sees some 50,000 vessels passing through each year. A quarter of all oil shipments carried by sea traverse the 805 km-long natural channel.

Officials said fears of terrorism rest on the possibility that a large ship could be hijacked and then sunk at a shallow point, effectively blocking the straits. “Such an attack would have a devastating effect on world trade,” said a Malaysian security specialist who declined to be named. “The oil shipment to China and Japan would grind to a halt.”

It is mainly for this reason that experts are urging ASEAN to remain focused on its long-term priorities and not get distracted by West Asian problems.

“ASEAN should focus on bringing forward, especially the social and economic integration and political stability in the region,” said Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s Centre for Public Policy Studies.

“We should also take advantage of the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit (for the ASEAN Regional Forum here on Jul. 28) to send the message that terrorism cannot be tackled through another act of terrorism but through socio-economic development,” he told Bernama, the official news agency.

Ramon said the way forward to tackle terrorism was by providing for a fair global trade environment and bringing about a more just and equitable world.

Another matter of importance at the meet is Burma. For almost a decade ASEAN has endured Burma within its ranks in the hope that the ruling junta could be “engaged” and would relent and release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists.

“In its nine years of ASEAN membership, Myanmar (Burma) has consistently been problematic for and an embarrassment to its neighbours,” said an ASEAN statement last week. Malaysia’s foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar declared: “ASEAN has reached the stage where it is not possible to defend Myanmar if it does not cooperate with us or help itself by delivering tangible progress on economic and political reforms.”

“Myanmar has only itself to blame – its indifferent attitude to ASEAN has driven us to this point,” he said. “There is genuine concern among the majority of ASEAN members that Myanmar is putting into question ASEAN’s credibility and image.”

“It is significant that ASEAN has said it is giving up on Burma,” said Elizabeth Wong, secretary general of the Human Rights Society Malaysia.

“It is a signal that strong measures are now needed and that U.N. or other stronger intervention is more appropriate,” Wong told IPS.

Wong, who has devoted a decade to championing democracy for Burma, said the ASEAN admission of failure is a “very strong message” to the junta.

However, she acknowledges that no matter how tough ASEAN gets with Burma, changes will be “slow” if the regional super powers – China, India and Japan – and Thailand continue to humour the pariah regime.

Officials said the ASEAN joint communiqué at the end of this week’s ministerial summit is expected to express deep disappointment over the lack of progress on reform inside Burma. ASEAN leaders will converge in Cebu for the 12th summit in November where proposals for strong action against Burma are to be discussed.