Israel's aggression against Gaza and territorial disputes hog the
headlines but much of Asean's agenda was achieved in the three long days of
meetings.
AS he got up after his press
conference with the Malaysian media before departing home from Phnom Penh,
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak candidly exclaimed: “Wah! Exhausted! If anyone
thinks that this is a joy ride, you better tell the people at home.
“Pagi sampai malam tiga
hari berturut turut, tak berhenti langsung! (From morning to night for three days in a row. Non-stop)”. He quipped,
still looking dapper despite going through another long day of meetings with
Asean and world leaders, including from China, India, the United States and
Japan.
Asean summits have always had a
punishing schedule for those participating in the meetings. Meetings always
overrun the scheduled time, causing a pyramid effect on other meetings.
But as a seasoned Asean summit
attendee from Malaysia puts it, “Asean meetings will always be important as the
cornerstone of a country's foreign policy”.
Asean meetings can be slow
affairs but can get fairly “exciting” when there is a crisis brewing be it
political or foreign affairs.
It was no different at this 21st
Asean Summit and Related Summits at the Cambodian capital this week where
overlapping territorial claims among several of the participating countries and
the attacks by Israel against the Palestinians grabbed the headlines.
Sadly, these caused many to
ignore the milestones and major developments that were achieved at this summit.
One of these was the adoption of
the Asean Human Rights Declaration, which despite being panned for purportedly
not meeting international standards, was hailed by leaders, including Najib,
who felt it had points which were better than the universal declaration of
human rights.
Another important initiative is
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involving Asean 10 and
its FTA partners namely China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New
Zealand.
The RCEP is one of the most
ambitious regional economic integration initiatives in Asia.
It will bring together the
leading economies in Asia with a population of 3.4 billion people with a
combined GDP of US$17 trillion.
Despite these achievements, the
territorial dispute in the South China Sea could not be ignored.
Najib, for the first time, spoke
extensively on it to the media to state Malaysia's stand but in a measured tone
where he repeatedly said that Malaysia wanted a peaceful solution while mindful
of opinions that the South China Sea could potentially be a flashpoint.
“One of the challenges will be to
ensure there is continued peace and stability in our part of the world.
“The first approach will be
whenever China is ready to discuss the Code of Conduct. That will be an
important framework and after that only, hopefully, there will be the beginning
of the more complex part of negotiations which is settlement of the areas
concern,” said the Malaysian leader, adding that all leaders agreed for a
peaceful resolution.
A senior Malaysian official said
Najib did well in putting forward his views, including that of Israeli military
aggression in the Gaza Strip.
“With (just re-elected US
President) Barack Obama's presence in the room, the Prime Minister articulated
well Malaysia's position and that got the US president to listen to him,” said
the official.
It was also during the Asean-US
summit that Najib spoke of the moderation approach in managing crises, citing
the example of Malaysia's role in helping to achieve peace in Southern
Philippines which was concurred by Obama who also spoke at length on
moderation.
Despite reports of tensions and
disagreements during the meeting between the Philippines and host Cambodia,
which was accused of pandering to China, Najib said the atmosphere was “quite
calm”.
A Malaysian official agreed with
Najib, saying he noticed that among the leaders there were a lot of sensible
and cool heads.
“This shows that Asean is more
mature to manage issues or challenges. This can only further strengthen Asean
centrality, a fact accepted and supported by other countries,” he said.
Brunei takes over the Asean
chairmanship next year. It is a claimant country to the South China Sea and
will be closely watched on how it handles the issue.
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