Examining the engagement between civil society and ASEAN in

the ASEAN community building process

by

Thi Thu Huong Dang

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CONTENT

ABSTRACT 3

INTRODUCTION 4

I. ASEAN COMMUNITY BUILDING 5

The reasons for building an ASEAN Community 5

The ASEAN Community building process 6

II. THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN COMMUNITY BUILDING 10

III. CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA 11

IV. THE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN CIVIL SOCIETY AND ASEAN PRIOR TO THE

ASEAN COMMUNITY BUILDING PROCESS 14

ASEAN′s agenda-setting and decision-making 14

The engagement between civil society and ASEAN before the Asian economic crisis 15

After the Asian economic crisis 16

V. THE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN CIVIL SOCIETY AND ASEAN IN THE ASEAN

COMMUNITY BUILDING PROCESS 18

CONCLUSION 29

REFERENCE 32

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ABSTRACT

The essay examines the engagement between civil society in Southeast Asia and

ASEAN in the ASEAN community building process. It argues that in spite of initial efforts in

mutual accommodation, both sides have been divided from within, which slows the

engagement and gives it more form than substance. The efforts by ASEAN so far will only

create a community of the governing elite, not a community of the people. Regional

community building, just like nation-building, is very much a people-centered process. It is

not a simple top-down chain of command and control. If ASEAN wants to establish a real

community, it must change its modus operandi. It must be much more than an exclusive club

for the governing elite by giving more space as well as power to civil society in its agenda-

setting and decision-making.

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INTRODUCTION

A community is much more a cognitive than material construction; it is something

that has to be believed in, sensed, and nurtured by the people. In Southeast Asia, the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is building an ASEAN Community, which

is its most far-reaching project. Yet is it possible for a regional organisation that has been

widely criticised by civil society for being remote to and detached from the people to

establish a community of caring and sharing societies by 2015 as its statements indicate? And

if yes, how?

Meanwhile, civil society has an important role to play in community building. Yet

civil society in Southeast Asia is weak and fragmented. It has been excluded from ASEAN′s

decision-making process. Can civil society contribute to ASEAN community building? And

if yes, how?

This essay tries to answer these questions by looking at the engagement between civil

society in Southeast Asia and ASEAN in the ASEAN Community building process. It begins

with a summary of the ASEAN Community building process, which is followed by an

examination of the role of civil society in community building. The third section introduces

civil society in Southeast Asia. And the fourth is about the engagement between civil society

and ASEAN prior to ASEAN community building. I divide this part into two periods: before

and after the Asian financial crisis. Then I move on to the fifth - the most important in this

essay which discusses and analyses the engagement between ASEAN and civil society in

Southeast Asia in the ASEAN community building process.

Finally I sum up my examination and analysis in the conclusion, in which I argue that

in spite of their initial attempts at mutual accommodation, both sides have been divided from

within, which slows the engagement and gives it more form than substance. The efforts in

community building made by ASEAN so far will only establish a community of the

governing elite, not a community of the people. If it wants to create a community larger than

that, ASEAN must change. The ASEAN governing elite must loosen their control and give

civil society more space in the decision making process.

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I. ASEAN COMMUNITY BUILDING

ASEAN1 was founded by five countries Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,

Singapore and Thailand in August 1967. The grouping has since doubled its membership to

include Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Of all ASEAN projects, the most

far-reaching and significant is the ASEAN Community, which is scheduled to be realised by

2015.

The reasons for building an ASEAN Community

The process of ASEAN community building is a result of the considerable change in

the association′s mission in the recent two decades. The end of the Cold War, the advance of

globalisation, the rise of China and India in economic size and political influence as well as

the Asian financial crisis have forced ASEAN to shift from its original preventive diplomacy

of maintaining peace and harmony among its members to the constructive diplomacy of

community building to cope with increasing political and economic competition in a

globalised world.

In more details, one of the most notable threats to ASEAN members is China, whose

robust economy is in direct competition with those of its Southeast Asian neighbours,

especially in trade and foreign direct investment. Besides, in recent years, the sleeping dragon

has shown more interest in enhancing its economic and political presence in the region,

particularly in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Its awakening has increasingly

drawn ASEAN states, which share the common fear of intrusive outside powers, into the

long-term strategic competition between China and the United States in Asia Pacific (Neves,

2004: 162). To cope with China and avoid external intervention, Southeast Asian countries

feel the need to act collectively and to lean on each other, so that they can have combined

strengths as well as better bargaining power in both economic and political issues (Almonte,

2006). The same will work when dealing with an amalgamated or regional community such

1 Several reasons lay behind the formation of ASEAN: its members′ desire for a stable external environment (so

that they could concentrate on nation building), the common fear of communism, their reduced faith in or

mistrust of external powers in the 1960s, as well as the aspiration for national economic development; not to

mention Indonesia′s ambition to become a regional hegemon through regional cooperation and the hope on the

part of Malaysia and Singapore to constrain Indonesia and bring it into a more cooperative framework. Unlike

the Europe Union, ASEAN has been made to serve nationalism. It has yet to become a sovereign-defying

project. (Alagappa, 1998: 65 ­ 114)

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as the United States and the European Union, or with international organisations such as the

United Nations and the World Trade Organisation.

Besides, in the time of economic globalisation and after it was hit hard by the Asian

financial crisis, forming an economic community which develops a single market and

production base with effective facilitation for trade and investment will help Southeast Asia

improve its economic competitiveness and attractiveness (Almonte, 2006). In terms of

political and security issues, internal ethnic and religious tensions (most dangerously in

Myanmar, Southern Thailand, Eastern Indonesia and Southern Philippines) have led to cross-

border instability, terrorism, illegal migration and drug-trafficking. These and other problems

such as air pollution, avian flu, AIDS all require regional concerted and coordinated actions.

Against this backdrop, the future of the region and of ASEAN will be, to a

considerable extent, contingent on the degree of success of community building.

The ASEAN Community building process

At its ninth Summit in October 2003, ASEAN announced its decision to establish an

ASEAN Community comprising three intertwined and mutually reinforcing pillars, namely

the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) by 2020. In January 2007, its leaders reached an

agreement to shorten the time frame to 2015. The ASC is expected to maintain and strengthen

peace, security and stability and enhance ASEAN′s capacity for self-management of regional

security. It will include maritime cooperation and fight against terrorism, but no plan for a

regional military bloc or defence pact. Besides, member countries are free to pursue their own

foreign policies and defence arrangements (ASEAN, 2003). Meanwhile, the mission of the

AEC is to develop a single market and production base that is stable, prosperous, highly

competitive and economically integrated with effective facilitation for trade and investment

in which there is free flow of goods, services investment, skilled labours, and freer flow of

capital. But it will not adopt a common currency like the European Union (ASEAN, 2007b:

4). And last but not least, the ASCC envisages a Southeast Asia bonded together in

partnership as a community of caring and sharing societies. The ASCC Plan of Action

contains four core elements: Building a community of caring societies, Managing the social

impact of economic integration, Enhancing environmental sustainability, and Strengthening

the foundations of regional social cohesion towards an ASEAN Community (ASEAN,

2004b). In 2005, member countries agreed to establish an ASEAN Charter, which would

serve as the legal and institutional framework for the regional organisation and the ASEAN

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Community. Although it will not take on any supranational functions, with its ambitious

goals, the ASEAN Community is believed to have far-reaching and important impacts on the

lives of the people in Southeast Asia.

Unlike the European Union, ASEAN is still a pure inter-governmental organisation. It

has no supranational institution (Ong, 2004) responsible for monitoring and facilitating the

realisation of the ASEAN Community. Members rely on mutual trust and goodwill to fulfill

integration commitments. However, a study by the three past secretaries-general released in

2007 showed that only 30% of commitments had actually been fulfilled (Fernandez, 2007),

including those related to community building.

ASEAN officials admit the AEC is the simplest part, as it has clear objectives and

benchmarks such as liberalisation and facilitation measures in the area of trade in goods,

services and investments; recognition of educational qualifications; enhanced infrastructure

and communications connectivity and the like. Yet, although much has been done2, the

regional economy is far from being effectively integrated. The ASEAN Free Trade Area

agreement of 1992 directs their elimination, but non-tariff barriers remain largely in place. In

addition, "Reforms of customs procedures and practices, required for the proper

implementation of ASEAN trade agreements, have been uneven. The harmonization of

product standards, necessary for an integrated market, is extremely slow. So is the conclusion

of mutual recognition arrangements that would do away with multiple tests of traded

products. Negotiations on the liberalization of trade in services, although mandated by the

1995 `framework agreement′, seem to be marking time. Transportation between or through

ASEAN countries remains cumbersome and expensive, and the development of infrastructure

is highly uneven. Communications within ASEAN are still fragmented", former ASEAN

Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino points out (2007: 5). As a result, the intra-regional trade

share increased slightly from 22% in 2003 and 2004 to 25% in 2006, the intra-regional

investment share in 2006 was the same as the average share of the 2002 ­ 2006 period (only

11%). Businessmen still view ASEAN as 10 different countries, with 10 different customs′

authorities, rules and regulations, and 10 different borders (Taing, 2007). ASEAN trade

officials themselves said the AEC blueprint, which was approved only in late November 2007

with detailed timelines, must be implemented swiftly and effectively if the 2015 deadline is

to be met (Fernandez, 2007).

2 Almost all intra-ASEAN trade is now, at least on paper, free of duty. (Severino, 2007)

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