7/12/07 ASEAN chief wants more US involvement

ASEAN chief wants more US involvement

December 07, 2007

Surin Pitsuwan, a former foreign minister of Thailand, said one reason that Washington has neglected its South-East Asian friends is that the Bush administration has been distracted by problems elsewhere, implicitly referring to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The United States also has distanced itself from ASEAN since military-ruled Burma joined the group in 1997.

"Anybody can argue, 'Well, we are there even if not physically present. The tsunami; we provided help then'. That's true, but a tsunami doesn't come every day," Surin said today. The United States was among early providers of emergency aid for countries hit by a massive tsunami on December 26, 2004.

Surin, who becomes ASEAN secretary-general on January 1, said part of the problem is that Americans are disappointed with the way ASEAN does business. "You want it black and white," he said. "That is not the way we do it in ASEAN."

"The United States used to understand that," Surin said, "but not in the last few years."
"We would like to see more engagement. We would like to see more of the president on the ground."

President George W Bush generally attends summit meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, where he meets leaders of the seven ASEAN member countries that also belong to APEC.

"The United States is still the only power in the region that can provide security (for the ASEAN members),'' Surin said, "but it needs to be present."

The 40-year-old regional grouping has come under strong criticism from the United States and others for its failure to discipline Burma. Under military rule for 45 years, Burma's junta recently used guns, truncheons and mass arrests to break up massive anti-government demonstrations led by Buddhist monks.

Speaking at an event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Surin said ASEAN is ready to help Burma through its political crisis and to return to normalcy but only if the generals request help.
Surin said there is a political consensus that Burma "will not be status quo; it will not go back to where it was".
ASEAN was founded as an anti-communist Cold War organisation. Its founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It has expanded to include Brunei, Laos, Burma and Vietnam.

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