Enough Tit-For-Tat diplomacy

12 August 2012 

By Davan Long 

Letter to the Bangkok Post Postbag 

The spat over disagreements in wording which resulted in the omission of the post-summit joint statement altogether at the Asean summit in Phnom Penh last month seems to have regrettably taken on a life of its own, and grows uglier as each day goes by, with no clear end in sight.

The hot topic now is no longer the absence of the joint statement, but how the fallout has been dealt with.

Less than two weeks after the summit ended, it was agreed by the member states to adopt six principles which, according to Cambodian officials, were the very same principles tabled by Cambodia as the meeting's chair but were categorically rejected by Vietnam and the Philippines during the meeting.

Despite that commendable progress, thanks in large part to the intense diplomatic manoeuvring from Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines continue to uncharacteristically trade barbs in public.

It is fashionable to hold the chair accountable for an undesirable incident. That said, the absence of the post-summit joint statement, should not come as a complete surprise to anyone who is familiar with the organisation's limited mandate to deal with issues as politically charged as the South China Sea dispute.

Now Asean finds itself dangerously on a head-to-head collision course with a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council right in its backyard. At the same time the United States is increasing its rhetoric and presence in the region to counter China's growing assertiveness in its jurisdictional claims in the South China Sea. As some observers have nervously put it, the aggressive postures taken by both sides could signal the beginning of the militarisation of the issue.

Facing such a highly volatile situation, it can be said that it was prudent for Cambodia, as the group's chair, to opt to behave in a manner consistent with Asean's traditional non-confrontational approach. Unfortunately, there was a price to be paid for that wise decision - the breakdown of Asean's cohesiveness. The summit in Phnom Penh should not be allowed to become an endless finger-pointing exercise. It is time to turn the page, and move on with the real goals the group has set to accomplish.