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Violence poses membership dilemma f
Subject: Violence poses membership dilemma for divided Asean neighbours
Tuesday July 8 1997
Violence poses membership dilemma for divided Asean neighbours
Safety passage: Buddhist monks in Phom Penh leave a temple through a
hole in a compound wall made by rocket fire. Associated Press photo
The political unrest, 16 days before Cambodia's scheduled admission to
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has presented its neighbours
and would-be trading partners with some difficulties.
The seven-nation Asean trading bloc may be torn between its policy of
non-interference in members' domestic affairs and the group's adherence
to the principle of peaceful transfer of power.
The consensus-driven Asea experienced the unusual phenomenon yesterday
of members giving conflicting public statements on whether Cambodia
should be admitted as planned at a foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala
Lumpur on July 23. Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said
Asean officials would hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to decide
whether to ''reverse'' its scheduled entry.
A special assistant to Asean Secretary-General Dato' Ajit Singh said
there was ''no statement on the Cambodia issue right now and there may
not be for several days''.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi was quoted in Croatia as
saying Asean foreign ministers would meet on Thursday, but did not
indicate whether Cambodia's entry would be reconsidered.
Mr Siazon said that was a distinct possibility. ''If this fighting does
not stop, obviously Asean members will have to rethink this ... because
they may not be capable of dealing with the situation,'' he said.
Cambodia is scheduled to be admitted to the grouping along with Burma
and Laos this month.
Thai Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasarn said:''We will watch if things
are improving or not, and if Asean is satisfied with the situation, I
think nothing will change.''
Malaysia's Acting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Asean's position
''has not changed''.
''Domestic conflict [in Cambodia] should be resolved peacefully and the
disputing parties should exercise restraint to prevent the situation
from worsening,'' Indonesia's President Suharto said, adding that Asean
had accepted Cambodia as a member.
"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE. ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION." "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."
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