Asean in transition

EDITORIAL

Published: 13 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Asean is in a state of flux with the transfer of the chair from Cambodia to Brunei in late November and the handover of the secretary-general post to Le Luong Minh of Vietnam, who was formally sworn in last week. Mr Minh is replacing Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand.

Among the many issues commanding the attention of Mr Minh and the regional body as a whole are the launching of the Asean Economic Community in 2015 and steering Asean toward a unified stance on disputes over territories in the South China Sea. China claims most of the sea, including a vital shipping lane and resource-rich areas. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have overlapping claims in the area, as does Taiwan.

To his credit, the incoming secretary-general has already made it clear he intends to make resolving the disputes a priority. In Jakarta on Wednesday, he indicated Asean is anxious to bring a resolution to this highly contentious matter and will be pressing China for talks.

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boons
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Discussion 3 : 14 Jan 2013 at 15.073
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ASEAN will be beneficial only to a small group of industrialists who are looking (as always) for cheaper labor options with guarantees of greater legal and economic infrastructure. It will also be beneficial in the *very* short term to banks who want to rapidly expand credit for short-term gains. (The viability of this credit expansion is of course negligible). It will be disastrous for the overpriced Thai labor force, as manufacturing flees offshore for cheaper options. This government will no doubt respond with calls for education (ie: student debt), aid for individuals (ie: personal debt) and stimulus (ie: national debt).
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tamsin
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Discussion 2 : 13 Jan 2013 at 11.552
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Word to the wise, 'ASEAN' will be, has always been, an empty acronym. Remember where you are.
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geoffo
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Discussion 1 : 13 Jan 2013 at 09.461
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If the Chinese claim is accepted every coastal nation would do the same and war would result. China is no ones friend on this matter.

Despite Chinas pretense of never interfering in the affairs of others it does that frequently as this article correctly points out.

It was not that long ago that China supported local communist efforts to overthrow both the Thai and Malaysian government. China might wear niceer clothes now but underneath nothing has changed and their imperial ambitions remain.
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Asean in transition | Bangkok Post: opinion