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SPEAKING
FREELY
Why ASEAN criticized
Myanmar
By Hiro Katsumata
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have their
say. Please click here if you are
interested in contributing.
SINGAPORE - When the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations held a series of annual meetings last
week, it was the ASEAN foreign ministers' dealing with
the Myanmar issue gained the most attention of the
international media. The ministers took the
unprecedented step of urging the Yangon government to
release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has
been detained since late May. Their Joint Communique
stated that they "look forward to the early lifting of
restrictions" placed on her.
The international
media reported this as a surprise departure from, or
even an abandonment of, the principle of
non-interference in internal affairs of ASEAN members.
Even some Western newspapers that are usually
unequivocal in criticizing ASEAN politics made a few
positive remarks. For example, the International Herald
Tribune stated last Wednesday that if ASEAN is to "stop
coddling the junta", better days for the people of
Myanmar "may at least be in sight".
What was the
reason behind this unprecedented maneuver on the part of
ASEAN? Most critics maintain that its members were
concerned about the association's international image
and reputation. ASEAN had been criticized by the Western
countries, including the United States and European
Union members, as ignoring Myanmar's human-rights
record. Singapore's Straits Times on Saturday held that
"ASEAN had no choice but to act": ASEAN's "international
image has taken a beating because of its passivity over
Myanmar".
This line of argument is partially
plausible; however, it overlooks a more important
reason. When ASEAN urged Yangon to release Suu Kyi, the
members were motivated not only by their concern for
image and reputation, but also by their own beliefs in
the value of human rights and democracy. ASEAN's
behavior was not just a response to international
pressure for tougher actions against Yangon. It was also
a voluntary action to address the serious human-rights
problem in Southeast Asia. In other words, their motives
were not only external but also internal. The norms of
human rights and democracy have gradually been
internalized in ASEAN, and its members were driven by
their own normative commitment.
Such a claim can
be justified by focusing on the origin of the agenda to
address domestic matters of member states. From the late
1990s, the ASEAN countries started to debate whether and
to what extent they should discuss one another's
domestic affairs.
It was Thailand that proposed
in 1998 that ASEAN should adopt a policy of "flexible
engagement". The then-foreign minister, Surin Pitsuwan,
proposed this on behalf of the Thai people who share the
value of human rights and democracy. At that time, the
domestic situations in Cambodia and Myanmar were serious
concerns of human-rights advocates. Not surprisingly,
Surin's proposal was strongly supported by the
Philippines, another democratic country in Southeast
Asia, but not by many other relatively less democratic
members.
Yet the debate over the discussion of
domestic affairs continued, in the contexts of different
notions, such as "enhanced interaction". As many in the
region started to recognize the value of human rights,
the governments of ASEAN members relaxed their strict
adherence to the non-interference principle. The
behavior of the ASEAN ministers in the meeting last week
should be seen as the result of this process.
The events of last week demonstrate a new aspect
of ASEAN policies in the 21st century. ASEAN politics
have been driven by liberal norms, gradually
internalized in Southeast Asia, and members have finally
begun to address issues of human rights and democracy.
Hiro Katsumata is an IDSS-Sasakawa
post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Defense and
Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. He can be reached at ishkatsumata@ntu.edu.sg
.
(Copyright 2003 Hiro
Katsumata.)
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have their
say. Please click here
if you are interested in
contributing.
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