Saturday, May 10, 2014
HIS
Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is
scheduled to arrive in Myanmar's new capital, Naypyitaw, today for the
24th ASEAN summit.
The meeting marks a watershed moment in Myanmar's political history
as the one-time pariah takes on the chairmanship of the 10-member bloc
for the first time in 17 years.
During the summit, the leaders are expected to adopt the Nay Pyi Taw
Declaration on the realisation of the ASEAN Community by 2015, and terms
of reference of the ASEAN Secretary-General as the ASEAN Humanitarian
Assistance Coordinator.
His Majesty will also attend a series of sideline meetings with
representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), civil
society organisations, ASEAN youth, and the 10th
Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines – East ASEAN Growth Area
(BIMP-EAGA).
The declaration is likely to deflect some attention away from other
more thorny issues, including recent flare-ups in the South China Sea
and violence against Muslims in Myanmar.
This week, Chinese and Vietnamese vessels collided in the disputed
waters, causing tensions to flare-up once again. The Philippines also
arrested a group of Chinese fisherman in an area claimed by both
countries.
ASEAN members — Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — all
have overlapping territorial claims with China in the sea, which is
thought to be rich in natural resources.
Aung Linn, director-general of ASEAN at Myanmar's foreign ministry,
said Vietnam raised the issue during a preparatory meeting and will
table the matter for discussion at the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting
today.
“As chairman, Myanmar will certainly hear all the input raised by
each member country. We'll work together to figure out how to address
the issue but we must understand ASEAN works by consensus and we must
approach it the ASEAN way,” he told reporters in Naypyitaw yesterday.
Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, said the recent
incidents reinforced the need for a swift conclusion to the long-awaited
code of conduct (COC), which would govern behaviour by claimants in the
sea.
“We would encourage ASEAN efforts to accelerate discussion of the
COC. If allowed to occur, similar incidents such as these will disrupt
the process of formulating the COC,” he said.
“Discussion in the last meeting between senior officials of ASEAN and
China have already taken place and there are encouraging developments.”
Myanmar has come a long way in the three years since President Thein
Sein took office in March 2011. His political reforms led to the lifting
of sanctions by the West and Myanmar’s reacceptance in the
international arena.
Although the ASEAN chairmanship is supposedly rotated alphabetically
on an annual basis, Myanmar used to be passed over consistently.
However, the country's democratic reforms threaten to be overshadowed
by a growing humanitarian crisis among the ethnic Rohingya, a Muslim
minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
Sectarian violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Rakhine has left
up to 200 dead and 140,000 displaced, most of them Muslims. The
government expelled international aid agencies from Rakhine in March for
showing “bias” towards the Rohingya, which the UN says are deprived of
citizenship and the most basic liberties — all charges which Myanmar
denies.
Myanmar's ambassador to Brunei, Yin Yin Myint, said it regards the
issue as an “internal affair”, invoking the ASEAN principle of
non-interference in each other's domestic affairs.
“There are (ASEAN) issues which have more far-reaching implications
than the so-called 'Rohingya issue'... Myanmar strongly believes that
'Rohingya' refers to a political movement. There is no such ethnic group
as Rohingya in the history of Myanmar and South Asia.”
However, Myanmar's internal problems have taken on a regional
dimension after many Rohingya fled as refugees to Malaysia, Thailand and
Indonesia.
Despite the objections of the government, it is likely the issue will
be raised, at least informally, during the ASEAN leaders' meeting on
Sunday.
The Brunei Times
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