asean

It seems to have taken an apparent chemical weapons attack killing hundreds in Syria to bring human rights into the foreign policy debate of the Australian elections. Until these horrific events in Syria, human rights have been a glaring omission from the foreign policy agendas of both the Labor Party and the Coalition.

At a Thursday meeting in Hanoi with Masayuki Yamauchi, chair of a government panel on cultural exchange promotion with other Asian countries, Dung also asked for cooperation from Japan for the preservation of historical heritage and cultural assets in Vietnam, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Officials from archrivals India and Pakistan say there is political will on both sides to take the often-contentious relationship to a new level. Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid met with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's special advisor on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Brunei on Tuesday, in the first such talks since the Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan's new leader.

AS Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia head to the polls this year and the next, it is interesting to note that discussion on foreign policy is almost absent in the local campaigns we are witnessing. This is symptomatic of the elections in Southeast Asia as a whole, and has been the case for decades, in fact. It may also signal the recognition that as relatively young states, the countries of the Asean region recognise that as single entities their foreign policies may not have an impact wider than the region they inhabit.

February 9, 2013

Even the most ardent supporters of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) concede that last year was a pretty disastrous one for the ten-country grouping. Replacing the region’s usual mild-mannered consensus was an unprecedented eruption of rowing and bickering, all on very public and humiliating display at its summit meetings.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's trip to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia underscores that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains the cornerstone of Japan's Asian diplomacy. Before cutting his trip short to deal with the kidnapping of Japanese nationals in Algeria, Abe commented, "Open seas are public assets and Japan will do utmost to protect them by cooperating with ASEAN. China's economic rise is definitely a plus for Japan but it is important for China to act responsibly as part of international society."

With the establishment of the China-ASEAN free trade area, communication in fields of personnel mobility, economic exchanges and cultural transmission between China and Southeast Asian countries are growing, even as disputes between the two remain. At this time, public diplomacy can play an important role in relations between China and Southeast Asian countries.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has appointed its first secretary-general from Vietnam, a one-party communist state and one of four ASEAN members in conflict with China over territory in the South China Sea. ASEAN has struggled over the past year to form a consensus on the issue and having a leader from Vietnam will keep the spotlight on the dispute.

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