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Chapter VII
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Unit 7.1. Objectives, Historical Background, and Institutional
Framework. ASEAN is an economic and political intergovernmental
organization of ten countries in Southeast Asia established on 8 August
1967, when the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, and the Philippines signed the Bangkok Declaration
(the Declaration of ASEAN) on the establishment of the organization.
14
The main reasons for the creation of ASEAN were following:
1) Fear of the Southeast Asian political elites for spread of
communism in this region;
2) Distrust of major actors in the world political arena.
Objectives of ASEAN:
1) Creating favorable conditions for state-building in member
countries which were recently liberated from colonial dependence;
2) Promoting social and economic development of participating
nations;
3) Peaceful settlement of international disputes in the region;
4) Ensuring stability and lasting peace in Southeast Asia.
Map 3. ASEAN Member Countries
The Bangkok Declaration guarantees openness of ASEAN for all
states in this area which share its goals and principles. The type of
14
The forerunner of ASEAN was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which
included Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines and functioned in 1961–67.
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government, ideological orientation, the level of economic development,
and economic policy can’t be the grounds for refusal of the admission to
the organization. The condition for membership in ASEAN is to join all
the agreements concluded within the association. Applicants for
membership are required to maintain diplomatic relations with all other
members of ASEAN.
A significant event in the history of the organization was the
signing of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration (Malaysia, November 1971)
envisaging the creation of a zone of peace, neutrality, and freedom in
Southeast Asia. The declaration stated the need for all the ASEAN
participants to take measures to ensure non-interference of outside
forces with the regional affairs. At the same time, the neutralization of
Southeast Asia was declared as the desired goal. Specific measures
of neutralization envisaged the steps at two levels:
1) Between the direct participants of ASEAN;
2) ASEAN as a whole and the outside political actors who do not
belong to Southeast Asia but agree to recognize the neutrality of the
region and not interfere with its affairs.
An important stage in the evolution of ASEAN began with the
signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia at
the first summit of the leaders of participating countries on the island
of Bali (Indonesia, 23–24 February 1976). The agreement was
intended to ensure a lasting peace, friendship, and cooperation in
order to strengthen solidarity and deepen relations between the
countries in the region. It is based on the following principles:
1) Mutual respect of:
A) Independence,
B) State sovereignty,
C) Territorial integrity,
D) National identity,
E) Equality of the contracting parties;
2) Noninterference with the internal affairs of the partners;
3) Resolving all differences and disputes by peaceful means;
4) Non-use of force and the threat of its use;
5) Cooperation between the parties.
The interpretation of the principle of multilateralism regarding
Southeast Asia called the ASEAN Way was also approved by the first
summit of the association which provides the following:
1) Non-interference with the internal affairs of the partners;
2) Low level of institutionalization;
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3) Making decisions by consensus through consultation of all
stakeholders;
4) Non-use of force and confrontation between the parties.
It was assumed that the ASEAN Way would be able to ensure
stability of the organization as it corresponds to the regional specifics
promoting mutual understanding and trust and key decisions making
by consensus with the great role of personal contacts between the
leaders of participating countries, thus reflecting democratic nature of
the organization.
A declaration of consent was also adopted at the Bali summit
which reflected the desire of the ASEAN members to create optimal
conditions for expansion and deepening of the cooperation between
the countries in the region.
Because of complexity of the situation in the South China Sea
which has turned into a zone of collision of political, economic, and
other interests of almost all the coastal states and in view of the
continuing debate about the ownership of the Paracel Islands (between
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam) and the islands of the Spratly (between
Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam) ASEAN
adopted the Manila Declaration (Philippines, 1992) calling for:
1) Settling disputes by peaceful means only;
2) Rejection of militarization of contested areas;
3) Joint use of natural resources.
At the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta (Indonesia,
1996) it was proposed to approve the Regional Code of Conduct in the
South China Sea which could become a basis for resolving disputes
and strengthening peace and stability in this region. However, because
of the acute differences on this issue between ASEAN and China,
signing of this document has not been achieved as yet.
Nowadays, the issues of regional security within ASEAN are
being considered in connection with the issue of turning Southeast
Asia into a nuclear-free zone. The appropriate agreement had been
prepared by December 1995 (the Treaty of Bangkok), and finally
came into force on 21 June 2001. It obliges all its parties not to
manufacture or acquire nuclear weapons.
However, a refusal of the five officially recognized nuclear powers
(Britain, China, France, Russia, and USA) to sign the additional
protocol is a stumbling block to the implementation of this agreement.
Only in 2011, the nuclear club members and ASEAN managed to
agree on the steps which would eventually lead to the signing of the
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Protocol to the Bangkok Treaty by nuclear powers. Another difficulty is
the unresolved question of nuclear status of India and Pakistan
without which this treaty can’t be fully respected.
The terrorist attack on the United States on 11 September 2001,
stirred up anti-terrorist activities within ASEAN. In particular, the
Brunei summit (November 2001) adopted the Declaration on Joint
Action to Counter Terrorism providing for strengthening joint and
separate antiterrorist action, which had affected Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore, and most of the other ASEAN members.
At a special meeting of ministers of the ASEAN member nations
held in Kuala Lumpur in May 2002, a work plan aimed at a more close
police and intelligence services interaction within the organization was
adopted, as well as a more active exchange of information between
them for the sake of fighting international terrorism.
The 8
th
ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh (Cambodia, 4–5 November
2002) adopted a new joint declaration on fighting terrorism which
alongside with the approval of this document rejected any attempt to link
it to a particular religion or ethnic group. It was decided to set up the
ASEAN Regional Counter-terrorism Center in Kuala Lumpur.
Now the main fields of cooperation in the area of security within
ASEAN are following:
1) Combating regional terrorism (for example, the terrorist group
Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines);
2) Fighting illegal drugs productions and sales;
3) Combating illegal migration.
At the same time, the establishment of the full-scale military
alliance on the basis of ASEAN is not on the agenda for the following
reasons:
1) Total military strength of ASEAN is insufficient to repel
external aggression effectively if it comes from major powers, for
example, the People’s Republic of China;
2) Presence of unresolved territorial disputes and other foreign
policy contradictions between the ASEAN members;
3) Lack of well-developed military industry, focus on a variety of
foreign sources of military supplies, and lack of harmonization and
standardization of military equipment and arms within the
organization;
4) Experience of participation in various military blocks and the
consequent differences in mentalities of military establishment of the
ASEAN members;
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5) Persistent differences of social and political systems of the
member states (socialism in Vietnam and Laos; the monarchical
system of government in Brunei, Cambodia, and Thailand; a fairly
high level of capitalist economy in Malaysia, Singapore, etc.)
Taking into account the circumstances mentioned above,
the ASEAN nations consider it appropriate to retain the existing
balance of power in the region based largely on the American military
presence, which is especially important on the background of
increasing military strength of China rapidly turning into a military
superpower.
However, alongside with this, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
and Thailand have initiated the creation of a developed military
industry with Indonesia and Malaysia agreeing to establish a defenseindustry partnership in the ASEAN framework, which should contribute
to a significant reduction in the production costs and achieving selfsufficiency in this sector by 2030.
The US military experts point at the feasibility of the armed forces
reorganization in this region on the basis of the standards accepted in
NATO so that in addition to reducing production costs it should
contribute to a more complete compatibility with the armed forces of
the United States, also contributing to a better coordination of the
overall effort in the event of a large-scale threat to international
security in Southeast Asia.
The 13
th
ASEAN summit (Singapore, 18–22 November 2007)
adopted the ASEAN Charter which was declared effective at the
meeting of the leaders of the ASEAN member states in Jakarta on
15 December 2008. The Charter provides that:
1) Organization is granted the status of a legal entity;
2) It acts as a constitution regulating relations between the
participating countries;
3) It must contribute to the transformation of ASEAN into a
community similar to the European Union.
The basic principles of the Charter are following:
1) Respect for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity
of all member nations;
2) Non-interference with their home affairs;
3) Non-interference with the affairs of the organization by outside
forces;
4) Peaceful settlement of all controversial issues.
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Test Your Knowledge
1. What were the reasons for the creation of ASEAN?
2. Outline the history of ASEAN.
3. Specify the objectives of ASEAN.
4. The objectives of ASEAN are:
A) Political;
B) Economic and trade;
C) Economic and production.
5. What are the terms of membership in ASEAN?
6. What are the features of the observer status within ASEAN?
7. What is the significance of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on
the Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality in Southeast Asia?
8. What is the significance of the Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation in Southeast Asia?
9. What is the significance of the Manila Declaration?
10. Describe the political and military cooperation within ASEAN.
11. Characterize the ASEAN Charter, its principles and meaning.
Topics for Discussion
1. Treaty of Bangkok on a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia.
2. ASEAN and the problem of international terrorism.
Unit 7.2. ASEAN and Its Extra-Regional Partners. The annual
schedule of the ASEAN activities is the following:
1) Meeting of foreign secretaries of the ASEAN member states;
2) Meetings in the framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum;
3) Meetings and events within the framework of the dialogue with
extra-regional partners.
Since 1994, the ASEAN Regional Forum operates which is based
on the principles of preventive diplomacy being in fact an officially
recognized platform for multilateral dialogue serving the interests of
peace and security in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific as a whole.
The objectives of the ASEAN Regional Forum are following:
1) Promotion of cooperation in the field of security and foreign
policy;
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2) Ensuring implementation of preventive diplomacy principles;
3) Promoting multilateral dialogue aimed at ensuring mutual trust
between ASEAN and its extra-regional partners.
Meetings within the Regional Forum framework are held once a
year in the capital of one of the member states alternately. There are
two levels of dialogue:
1) Formal intergovernmental level;
2) Dialogue between academic and non-governmental
organizations.
Today, alongside with the ASEAN members the participants of
the Forum are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, East Timor, the
European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and
the United States – twenty-seven countries in total. Characteristically,
the Republic of China (Taiwan) is not involved in the work of the
ASEAN Regional Forum since the latter’s establishment. Moreover, all
the issues related to Taiwan are not affected during the meetings of
the Forum participants.
Since 1997, regular meetings of the ASEAN leaders with the
leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea (“ASEAN plus Three”) take
place. The initiator of the interaction in this format was Malaysia,
whose leadership headed by the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
(1981–2003) defended the idea of formation of economic and trade
associations in East and South-East Asia as a counterweight to the
economic power of the EU and the United States.
By means of cooperation within the “ASEAN plus Three” the
coordination between ASEAN and the three largest economies in East
Asia is achieved. This dialogue is conducted at the level of the heads
of state and government, ministers and senior officials of all the
thirteen participant nations. Cooperation within the format “ASEAN
plus Three” played a significant role in fighting consequences of the
Asian financial crisis in 1997.
At present, within the framework of “ASEAN Plus Three” the
cooperation in eighteen areas and fifty different directions is carried
out, for example, such as foreign policy, economy and finance,
energy, agriculture, telecommunications and information technology,
improvement of governance methods, combating cross-border crime,
social security, labor, culture, ecology, health, and tourism.
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Since 1997, annual meetings at the ministerial level are held in
the format of “Ten plus One” between the ASEAN members and one
of extra-regional partners of the organization, such as Australia,
Canada, China, the EU, Japan, India, New Zealand, Russia, South
Korea, and the US. Cooperation in the format of “Ten plus One”
encompasses five main areas:
1) Mutual investment;
2) Information technology and telecommunications;
3) Agriculture;
4) Human resources exchange;
5) Joint development of the Mekong river basin.
Since 1996, regular meetings at the highest level within the
framework of the Asia-Europe Dialogue (ASEM) are held every two
years at the initiative of Singapore. This form of cooperation is of
great importance due to the fact that ASEAN and the European
Union share in global GDP and world trade accounted for over a half
already in the 1990s.
Besides the summits, regular meetings of the ASEAN and the EU
ministers on the issues of foreign policy, economics, finance,
environment, education, culture, and so on are held once in two years
starting from 2007. However, a stumbling block for cooperation within the
framework of ASEM became Burma’s accession to ASEAN in 1997, due
to the rigid position of the European Union toward violations of civil rights
and freedoms as well as suppression of the opposition in this country.
On 14 December 2005, the first East Asia Summit (EAS) was held
in Kuala Lumpur with the participation of sixteen countries (ten ASEAN
members, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South
Korea). Starting from the 6
th
EAS (Bali, 19 November 2011) Russia and
the United States are involved in this forum on a regular basis.
The idea of EAS dates back to the proposal for a so-called East
Asian Economic Caucus (also known under the name of the East
Asian economic group) made by M. Mohamad in 1991, who feared
that Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) being actively
formed in those years could absorb ASEAN, thus depriving Southeast
Asia of its economic and political independence.
The Mohamad’s proposal presumed that all nations which are not
directly related to Asia such as, for example, Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, Russia, and the United States should be excluded from the
integration associations formed in the region in the interests of the
regional development. The ideas of M. Mohamad were based largely
88
on so-called traditional Asian values popular with the ASEAN leaders
in the 1990s and going back to the Confucian morality which among
other things involve following the principle of collectivism in economic
and political life for the sake of the common good and the formation of
the Asian identity, in practice meaning the following:
1) Devotion to family, clan, corporation, and ethnic group;
2) Denial of personal freedom for the sake of stability and
prosperity of the society as a whole;
3) Pursuit of excellence in scientific and technological areas;
4) Rigid labor discipline combined with austerity in private life
and in workplace.
With regard to social life Asian values mean:
1) One-party authoritarian rule;
2) Commitment to public authorities and respect for them;
3) Focusing on collectivism and communitarianism;
4) Care for social and economic prosperity and collective well-
being of the society as a whole;
5) Pursuit of social harmony.
It is easy to notice that this concept contradicts such ideas
common for Western civilization as those of human rights, personal
freedom, and individualism. Critics maintain that Asian values are in
fact the euphemism concealing nothing else but traditional Oriental
authoritarianism and suppression of civil society. It should be also
noted that the economic progress made by Hong Kong, Japan, South
Korea, and Taiwan in the second half of the 20
th
century clearly
refutes the thesis of the beneficial effect of Asian values on social,
economic, and political processes in Southeast Asia.
Finally, under the effect of the 1997 economic crisis, the
popularity of Asian values came to naught as the complete absence of
effective specifically Asian institutional mechanisms to combat the
crisis was revealed. The Mohamad’s proposals were not supported by
Japan and the United States, the former being closely associated with
Western economies as in fact an integral part of the Western world
with the result that the initiative of the Malaysian Prime Minister did
not receive any direct practical implementation. However, holding of
regular meetings in the format of “ASEAN plus Three” since 1997,
gave Malaysia a foundation for the claims that the idea of the East
Asian Economic Caucus was implemented.
Creation of EAS was approved by Japan only after the ASEAN
support of Australia and New Zealand participation in this forum was
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secured in 2005. Since then, the EAS focuses on the problems of
international trade, energy, security, etc. Thus, in the course of the 2
nd
EAS held on 15 January 2007, in Cebu (Philippines), the Japanese
trade minister Toshihiro Nikai launched an initiative on the
Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia which provides:
1) Formation of a monetary fund of $ 80–100 million to launch the
mechanism of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia;
2) Conclusion of a treaty establishing a free trade area among
the EAS members;
3) Establishment of the East Asian Economic Research Institute
for ASEAN and East Asia whose tasks should include studying
possible effects of the FTA formation in the EAS framework.
Proposals of the Japanese minister (the Nikai Initiative) faced a
mixed reaction of the participants. His only idea so far implemented is
a project of the East Asian Economic Research Institute for ASEAN
and East Asia which operates since 2008 and is located in Jakarta
th
(28
place in the ranking of the fifty leading research institutes in
economics in the world).
Besides that, the EAS meeting in Cebu adopted the Declaration
on Energy Security in East Asia which ensures “adequate, reliable,
and affordable energy sources” and focuses on alternative fuels.
Among other things, it provides the development of common
standards in the production of biofuels.
At the 6
th
EAS meeting, the first one involving Russia and the
United States as full members of this forum, the US President Barack
H. Obama claimed the transformation of the Asia-Pacific Region
(APR) into the area of the American special interests, which was
repeated in the sensational article by then the US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton in the journal “Foreign Policy” dated 11 October 2011.
During the summit, Americans expressed their support for
multilateral negotiations on the territorial disputes in the South China
Sea with the participation of all the interested parties in the region.
However, this position was not supported by Beijing insisting on the
need to resolve conflicts in the course of bilateral negotiations
between the countries involved in them directly. China strongly
opposed the involvement of the nations, having no access to the
South China Sea and the United States in particular, in the resolution
of these conflicts. Beijing regards the American efforts to resolve the
territorial disputes in the course of East Asia Summit as an attempt to
pursue a policy of containment against China’s growing power.
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