JakartaPost-Aug 6, 2022
The final day of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), which ran from Aug. 2 to 5, saw the bloc making bold, breakthrough decisions amid the highly volatile geopolitical developments in the region. This was evident in the joint communiqué, issued on Friday, which contained calibrated warnings against Myanmar. Previously, internal disagreements over ASEAN’s handling of the Myanmar coup crisis resulted in tense discussions and had heightened anticipation over its mention in the communiqué, which was promised. In its opening remarks on Wednesday, ASEAN chair Cambodia said the bloc would have to “rethink” its peace plans, or else be held “hostage” to the junta-led state’s defiance. Observers have noted that the choice of words in the communiqué to address Myanmar’s military junta is a way of delegitimizing its leadership. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior researcher and director at The Habibie Center, said that ASEAN had “taken the right steps” through the communiqué, noting that it was a “firm warning to Myanmar that it should comply with the bloc’s decisions”. “This is a breakthrough for ASEAN, which has so far taken political decisions through consensus. It is a breakthrough that it will not let itself be held hostage by Myanmar,” Dewi told The Jakarta Post on Friday. “Myanmar, as a stumbling block to regional interests, has to be isolated going forward. ASEAN must have courage.” Cambodia, in its capacity as the ASEAN chair at this difficult time, Dewi continued, rightly deserved credit for successfully issuing the communiqué and “keeping its responsibilities” in addressing both the Myanmar and South China Sea issues. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/08/05/asean-rises-to-challenge-of-geopolitical-turmoil.html.
