US, EU to sign Asean cooperation treaty

In a bid to boost its standing in Southeast Asia, the United States will finally accede next week to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), a sign that Washington is expanding its engagement in a region “neglected” for several years under the Bush administration, diplomatic sources said yesterday.

A document seen by the Tribune said ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will sign the instrument of accession during the regional bloc’s ministerial meeting in Phuket, Thailand. The European Union and Turkey will likewise sign the ASEAN cooperation treaty.

“This is very significant because it means that the US attaches great importance to the ASEAN and Southeast Asian region. I think they felt that they have neglected the ASEAN in the last eight years,” a Southeast Asian diplomat, who asked not to be named, said in an interview.

“There’s a new administration now and President Obama’s policy is to have closer engagement in the region. They wanted to rebuild ties with the ASEAN and take up issues neglected by Bush administration,” the diplomat added.

The United States is the only major Pacific power not to have acceded to the TAC, one of many pieces of evidence that Southeast Asian leaders have cited in arguing that the US has neglected Southeast Asia generally, and ASEAN specifically, a Washington think-tank said.

“ASEAN is Southeast Asia’s primary multilateral organization. Its ten member-nations include over 500 million people. Collectively, ASEAN is one of the United States’ largest trading partners, constituting about 5%-6% of total U.S. trade. Geographically, Southeast Asia includes some of the world’s most critical sea lanes, including the Straits of Malacca, through which pass a large percentage of the world’s trade,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said.

The TAC was first negotiated in 1976 and subsequently amended to allow non-regional countries to accede. Fifteen countries have done so, including US allies Japan, South Korea, and Australia, as well as China, Russia, and India.

To date, the TAC remains as the only indigenous regional diplomatic instrument that provides a mechanism and process for the peaceful settlement of disputes..

Within ASEAN, accession to the TAC by non-members is seen as a symbol of commitment to engagement in Southeast Asia, and to the organization’s emphasis on multilateral processes.

It took several years for the US to finally decide to accede to the treaty due to major concern whether the TAC’s emphasis on non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs would constrain US freedom of action, particularly its ability to maintain or expand sanctions on ASEAN member Myanmar.

With the US’ forthcoming accession to the treaty, Washington, meanwhile, remains mum on whether or not it will join the 16-nation bloc called the East Asia Summit organized by the ASEAN.

The summit comprises leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—as well as dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

All dialogue partners are signatories to the TAC, one of the requirements before any country could join the EAS.

Together, the 16 members represent half of the world’s population and a fifth of global trade in 2005. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune