Intelligence: "Splendid" Is the Word
ASEAN Day Two: We really, really, really were "candid"
By ALEJANDRO REYES

July 25, 2000
Web posted at 7:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 7:30 a.m. EDT

From the outset, yesterday's ministerial meeting opening session looked set to be a perfunctory affair, capped as always with the silly arm-linking pretzel-style without which any ASEAN get-together is not complete. Thailand's Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai started the speechmaking, followed by the foreign ministers of the other nine countries who each delivered short policy statements long on tired ASEAN buzzwords like "resilience" and "solidarity and cooperation" but short on specifics and solutions.

Give a special prize for spade-calling to Singapore's S. Jayakumar. He practically stole the show with a startlingly frank assessment of ASEAN's predicament. The Singaporeans can afford to be candid. ASEAN has gotten a lot of bad press recently, Jayakumar acknowledged. International publications like Asiaweek and Southeast Asian specialists have concluded that the 33-year-old organization is drifting apart, that it is irrelevant or at best, heading for extinction. "In 1998, I pointed out that ASEAN faced a crisis of confidence," Jayakumar recalled. "Today, we must ask ourselves why the regional economic recovery has not translated into a restoration of international confidence in ASEAN. We may not like these perceptions of ASEAN as ineffective and a sunset organization. We may question whether it is justified. But they are political facts. Perceptions can define political reality." Concluded the former law professor: "If we continue to be perceived as ineffective, we can be marginalized as our dialogue partners and international investors relegate us to the sidelines."

INTERACTIVE
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While some ministers in Bangkok are determined to prove the naysayers wrong, meeting chairman Surin Pitsuwan must surely merit special mention. He seems particularly eager to dispel any notion that ASEAN ministers make an Olympic sport out of dodging tough questions, skirting around problems or fudging when it comes to bad news or unappetizing truths. He wants to prove that ASEAN is changing. Don't forget: it was Khun Surin who not too long ago upset some of his colleagues when he called for greater flexibility in the traditional policy of non-interference in the affairs of other members. He rocked the boat and now, as the outgoing skipper, wants to stabilize it.

So who could blame the earnest foreign minister for being so upbeat following an afternoon "retreat" with his nine guests in a function room atop the Peninsula Hotel? At the press briefing room back at the Shangri-La Hotel, the main conference venue, Surin was glowing and relaxed in an open-necked blue shirt and gray jacket. He had asked his colleagues' permission to use the word "splendid" to describe the closed-door, ties-off session, he said. "We have taken the retreat [a practice started at the Singapore ministerial last year] to a higher plane. We opened up. We were candid. We were extremely honest towards each other." We got the point.

Thailand proposed the adoption of a troika system -- the deployment of a trio of ministers to handle problems that need immediate attention and action. The Thai foreign minister was pleased to announce that all the members agreed to more informal meetings, deeper exchanges and what he called "full-circle hotlines" or more frequent communication among them. And a troika mechanism had been approved. The idea, he said, is to give more latitude to the sitting ASEAN chairman to act on behalf of the other ministers. To deal with a problem, the chairman may choose to activate the troika, which may or may not consist of the chairman himself, his immediate predecessor and designated successor. If there are objections or the situation is an emergency, then a special meeting of all 10 ministers may be convened.

Sounds like an interesting game to play. But will the rules of engagement be written down? Not likely. And what happens if the chairman's country is the very one in the middle of whatever crisis has to be defused? And should the country or countries involved refuse to accept the troika, what then? Khun Surin wasn't saying. After completing his briefing, he took no questions, darting quickly out the door and upstairs to his suite for a series of bilaterals. (Papua New Guinea, the South African Development Council and East Timor just could not be kept waiting.) He kindly left his affable spokesman Don Pramudwinai to handle the inquiring media posse. Did anybody voice reservations about the troika during the retreat? Myanmar? Vietnam perhaps? No, Don insisted. And how will this troika system work in practice? Well, wait and see. "When it goes into operation, you will know how it operates," the smiling bureaucrat promised. Of course. That clears the matter up.

Diplomacy on Display, But Maybe the Troika Should Handle This?

At the post-retreat press briefing, Surin wouldn't let a simmering tiff with neighbor Laos spoil his buoyant mood. Before speaking to reporters, the Thai minister ceded the microphone to his Laotian counterpart. Somsavat Lengsavad went on at length about how Vientiane wants Bangkok to extradite to Laos 27 insurgents, including some Thais, who escaped into Thailand after allegedly attacking a Lao border checkpoint earlier this month. The incident stirred up bad blood between the two countries (and looks likely to continue to do so). Throughout Somsavat's remarks, Surin sat politely -- the perfect host. As Somsavat stepped off the stage and out of the room, both exchanged "wai" goodbyes, bowing slightly to each other. In six months, it may be time to call in the troika.

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