The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ESTABLISHMENT

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in
Bangkok with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding
Fathers of ASEAN, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Brunei Darussalam then joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and
Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten
Member States of ASEAN.

The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: (1) to
accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and (2) to
promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the
relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations
Charter. ASEAN (generally pronounced occasionally in English, the official language of the
bloc), is a geo-political and economic organisation of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia,
which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.[5] Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar),
Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include the acceleration of economic growth, social
progress, cultural development among its members, the protection of the peace and stability of
the region, and to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.

In 2005, the bloc spanned over an area of 4.46 million km 2 with a combined GDP
(Nominal/PPP) of about USD$896.5 billion/$2,728 billion growing at an average rate of around
5.6% per annum. In 2008, its combined GDP had grown to more than USD $1.5 trillion with a
population of approximately 580 million people (8.7% of the world population)

ASEAN COMMUNITY

In 2003, at the 9th ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN Leaders resolved that an ASEAN Community
be established by 2020. However, in 2007, during the 12th ASEAN Summit, they decided to
accelerate the establishment by 2015.

The ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security
Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. Each
pillar has its own Blueprint, and, together with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI)
Strategic Framework and IAI Work Plan Phase II (2009-2015), they form the Roadmap for an
ASEAN Community 2009-2015.

ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC)

Aims to ensure that the peoples and Member States of ASEAN live in peace with one another
and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment.

1
ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

Aims to transform ASEAN into a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region with
equitable economic development, and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities.

ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC)

Aims to contribute to realising an ASEAN Community that is people-oriented and socially

responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the peoples and
Member States of ASEAN. It seeks to forge a common identity and build a caring and sharing
society which is inclusive and where the well-being, livelihood, and welfare of the peoples are
enhanced.

ASEAN CHARTER

The ASEAN Charter serves as a firm foundation in achieving the ASEAN Community by
providing legal status and institutional framework for ASEAN. It also codifies ASEAN norms,
rules and values; sets clear targets for ASEAN; and presents accountability and compliance.

The ASEAN Charter entered into force on 15 December 2008. A gathering of the ASEAN
Foreign Ministers was held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to mark this very historic
occasion for ASEAN.

Find out more about the ASEAN Charter, including the Purposes and Principles of ASEAN

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) of 1976 also contains the
following fundamental principles which ASEAN Member States abide by in their relations with
one another:

 mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and
national identity of all nations;
 the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference,
subversion or coercion;
 non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
 settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner;
 renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
 effective cooperation among themselves.

History
ASEAN was preceded by an organisation called the Association of Southeast Asia, commonly
called ASA, an alliance consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand that was formed in
1961. The bloc itself, however, was established on 8 August 1967, when foreign ministers of five

2
countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – met at the Thai
Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok and signed the ASEAN Declaration, more
commonly known as the Bangkok Declaration. The five foreign ministers – Adam Malik of
Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of
Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand – are considered as the organisation's Founding
Fathers.

The motivations for the birth of ASEAN were so that its members’ governing elite could
concentrate on nation building), the common fear of communism, reduced faith in or mistrust of
external powers in the 1960s, as well as a desire for economic development; not to mention
Indonesia’s ambition to become a regional hegemony 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 European Union, ASEAN was designed to serve nationalism. In 1976, the
Melanesian state of Papua New Guinea was accorded observer status. Throughout the 1970s, the
organisation embarked on a program of economic cooperation, following the Bali Summit of
1976. This floundered in the mid-1980s and was only revived around 1991 due to a Thai
proposal for a regional free trade area. The bloc then grew when Brunei Darussalam became the
sixth member after it joined on 8 January 1984, barely a week after the country became
independent on 1 January.

On 28 July 1995, Vietnam became the seventh member. Laos and Burma (Myanmar) joined two
years later in 23 July 1997. Cambodia was to have joined together with Laos and Myanmar, but
was deferred due to the country's internal political struggle. The country later joined on 30 April
1999, following the stabilisation of its government.

During the 1990s, the bloc experienced an increase in both memberships as well as in the drive
for further integration. In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an East Asia Economic
Caucus composing the then-members of ASEAN as well as the People's Republic of China,
Japan, and South Korea, with the intention of counterbalancing the growing influence of the
United States in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as in the Asian region
as a whole. This proposal, however, failed since it faced heavy opposition from Japan and the
United States. Despite this failure, member states continued to work for further integration. In
1992, the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme was signed as a schedule for
phasing tariffs and as a goal to increase the region’s competitive advantage as a production base
geared for the world market. This law would act as the framework for the ASEAN Free Trade
Area. After the East Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, a revival of the Malaysian proposal was
established in Chiang Mai, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative, which calls for better integration
between the economies of ASEAN as well as the ASEAN Plus Three countries (China, Japan,
and South Korea).

Aside from improving each member state's economies, the bloc also focused on peace and
stability in the region. On 15 December 1995, the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone
Treaty was signed with the intention of turning Southeast Asia into a Nuclear-Weapon-Free
Zone. The treaty took effect on 28 March 1997 after all but one of the member states has ratified
it. It became fully effective on 21 June 2001, after the Philippines ratified it, effectively banning
all nuclear weapons in the region.

3
At the turn of the 21st century, issues shifted to involve a more environmental perspective. The
organisation started to discuss environmental agreements. These included the signing of the
ASEAN Agreement on Tran boundary Haze Pollution in 2002 as an attempt to control haze
pollution in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful due to the outbreaks of the
2005 Malaysian haze and the 2006 Southeast Asian haze. Other environmental treaties
introduced by the organisation include the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security, the
ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network in 2005, and the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean
Development and Climate, both of which are responses to the potential effects of climate change.
Climate change is of current interest.

Through the Bali Concord II in 2003, ASEAN has subscribed to the notion of democratic peace,
which means all member countries believe democratic processes will promote regional peace and
stability. Also, the non-democratic members all agreed that it was something all member states
should aspire to.

The leaders of each country, particularly Mahathir Mohammad of Malaysia, also felt the need to
further integrate the region. Beginning in 1997, the bloc began creating organisations within its
framework with the intention of achieving this goal. ASEAN plus Three was the first of these
and was created to improve existing ties with the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South
Korea. This was followed by the even larger East Asia Summit, which included these countries
as well as India, Australia, and New Zealand. This new grouping acted as a prerequisite for the
planned East Asia Community, which was supposedly patterned after the now-defunct European
Community. The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group was created to study the possible successes
and failures of this policy as well as the possibility of drafting an ASEAN Charter.

In 2006, ASEAN was given observer status at the United Nations General Assembly. As a
response, the organisation awarded the status of "dialogue partner" to the United Nations.
Furthermore, on 23 July that year, José Ramos-Horta, then Prime Minister of East Timor, signed
a formal request for membership and expected the accession process to last at least five years
before the then-observer state became a full member.

In 2007, ASEAN celebrated its 40th anniversary since its inception, and 30 years of diplomatic
relations with the United States. On 26 August 2007, ASEAN stated that it aims to complete all
its free trade agreements with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand by
2013, in line with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. In
November 2007 the ASEAN members signed the ASEAN Charter, a constitution governing
relations among the ASEAN members and establishing ASEAN itself as an international legal
entity. During the same year, the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security in Cebu on 15
January 2007, by ASEAN and the other members of the EAS (Australia, People's Republic of
China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea), which promotes energy security by finding
energy alternatives to conventional fuels.

On February 27, 2009 a Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN regional block of 10 countries
and New Zealand and its close partner Australia was signed, it is estimated that this FTA would
boost aggregate GDP across the 12 countries by more than US$48 billion over the period 2000-
2020.

4
The ASEAN way

In the 1960s, the push for decolonisation promoted the sovereignty of Indonesia and Malaysia
among others. Since nation building is often messy and vulnerable to foreign intervention, the
governing elite wanted to be free to implement independent policies with the knowledge that
neighbours would refrain from interfering in their domestic affairs. Territorially small members
such as Singapore and Brunei were consciously fearful of force and coercive measures from
much bigger neighbours like Indonesia and Malaysia. "Through political dialogue and
confidence building, no tension has escalated into armed confrontation among ASEAN member
countries since its establishment more than three decades ago".

The ASEAN way can be traced back to the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
South East Asian. "Fundamental principles adopted from this included: mutual respect for the
independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations; the
right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or
coercion; non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; settlement of differences or
disputes by peaceful manner; renunciation of the threat or use of force; and effective cooperation
among themselves".

On the surface, the process of consultations and consensus is supposed to be a democratic

approach to decision making, but the ASEAN process has been managed through close
interpersonal contacts among the top leaders only, who often share a reluctance to institutionalise
and legalise co-operation which can undermine their regime's control over the conduct of
regional co-operation. Thus, the organisation is chaired by the secretariat.

All of these features, namely non-interference, informality, minimal institutionalisation,

consultation and consensus, non-use of force and non-confrontation have constituted what is
called the ASEAN Way.

Since the late 1990s, many scholars have argued that the principle of non-interference has
blunted ASEAN efforts in handling the problem of Myanmar, human rights abuses and haze
pollution in the region. Meanwhile, with the consensus-based approach, every member in fact
has a veto and decisions are usually reduced to the lowest common denominator. There has been
a widespread belief that ASEAN members should have a less rigid view on these two cardinal
principles when they wish to be seen as a cohesive and relevant community.

Policies

Apart from consultations and consensus, ASEAN’s agenda-setting and decision-making

processes can be usefully understood in terms of the so-called Track I and Track II. Track I
refers to the practice of diplomacy among government channels. The participants stand as
representatives of their respective states and reflect the official positions of their governments
during negotiations and discussions. All official decisions are made in Track I. Therefore, "Track
I refers to intergovernmental processes".[37] Track II differs slightly from Track I, involving civil
society groups and other individuals with various links who work alongside governments. [38] This

5
track enables governments to discuss controversial issues and test new ideas without making
official statements or binding commitments, and, if necessary, backtrack on positions.

Although Track II dialogues are sometimes cited as examples of the involvement of civil society
in regional decision-making process by governments and other second track actors, NGOs have
rarely got access to this track; meanwhile participants from the academic community are a dozen
think-tanks. However, these think-tanks are, in most cases, very much linked to their respective
governments, and dependent on government funding for their academic and policy-relevant
activities, and many working in Track II have previous bureaucratic experience. Their
recommendations, especially in economic integration, are often closer to ASEAN’s decisions
than the rest of civil society’s positions.

The track that acts as a forum for civil society in Southeast Asia is called Track III. Track III
participants are generally civil society groups who represent a particular idea or brand. Track III
networks claim to represent communities and people who are largely marginalised from political
power centres and unable to achieve positive change without outside assistance. This track tries
to influence government policies indirectly by lobbying, generating pressure through the media.
Third-track actors also organise and/or attend meetings as well as conferences to get access to
Track I officials.

While Track II meetings and interactions with Track I actors have increased and intensified,
rarely has the rest of civil society had the opportunity to interface with Track II. Those with
Track I have been even rarer.

Looking at the three tracks, it is clear that until now, ASEAN has been run by government
officials who, as far as ASEAN matters are concerned, are accountable only to their governments
and not the people. In a lecture on the occasion of ASEAN’s 38th anniversary, the incumbent
Indonesian President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono admitted:

“All the decisions about treaties and free trade areas, about declarations and plans of action, are
made by Heads of Government, ministers and senior officials. And the fact that among the
masses, there is little knowledge, let alone appreciation, of the large initiatives that ASEAN is
taking on their behalf.”

ASEAN Summit

The organisation holds meetings, known as the ASEAN Summit, where heads of government of
each member meet to discuss and resolve regional issues, as well as to conduct other meetings
with other countries outside of the bloc with the intention of promoting external relations.

The ASEAN Leaders' Formal Summit was first held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976. Its third meeting
was held in Manila in 1987 and during this meeting, it was decided that the leaders would meet
every five years. Consequently, the fourth meeting was held in Singapore in 1992 where the
leaders again agreed to meet more frequently, deciding to hold the summit every three years. In
2001, it was decided to meet annually to address urgent issues affecting the region. Member
nations were assigned to be the summit host in alphabetical order except in the case of Myanmar

6
which dropped its 2006 hosting rights in 2004 due to pressure from the United States and the
European Union.

By December 2008, the ASEAN Charter came into force and with it, the ASEAN Summit will
be held twice in a year.

The formal summit meets for three days. The usual itinerary is as follows:

 Leaders of member states would hold an internal organisation meeting.

 Leaders of member states would hold a conference together with foreign ministers of the
ASEAN Regional Forum.
 A meeting, known as ASEAN Plus Three, is set for leaders of three Dialogue Partners
(People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea)
 A separate meeting, known as ASEAN-CER, is set for another set of leaders of two
Dialogue Partners (Australia, New Zealand).

East Asia Summit

The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a pan-Asian forum held annually by the leaders of 16 countries
in East Asia and the region, with ASEAN in a leadership position. The summit has discussed
issues including trade, energy and security and the summit has a role in regional community
building.

The members of the summit are all 10 members of ASEAN together with China, Japan, South
Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand who combined represent almost half of the world's
population. Russia has applied for membership of the summit and in 2005 was a guest for the
First EAS at the invitation of the host - Malaysia. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on
14 December 2005 and subsequent meetings have been held after the annual ASEAN Leaders’
Meeting.

Thailand changes venue for ASEAN+3, East Asia summits

Thailand has decided to change the venue of this year's ASEAN+3 and East Asia summits slated
for 23 -25 October in Phuket to the beach resort towns of Cha-am and Hua Hin, Foreign Minister
Kasit Piromya told reporters on Friday.

Kasit said there was no major reason for change, but "maximum security for the leaders who are
our guests is the most important issue."

The minister, who is in Kuala Lumpur, declined to comment on security in Phuket, a southern
Thai resort where ASEAN ministerial meetings were held last month.

Leaders from Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand were scheduled to
join their ASEAN counterparts for the annual summit in April in Thailand's east coast resort

7
Pattaya, but anti-government protesters stormed the meeting and Prime Minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva cancelled the meetings

Commemorative summit

A commemorative summit is a summit hosted by a non-ASEAN country to mark a milestone

anniversary of the establishment of relations between ASEAN and the host country. The host
country invites the heads of government of ASEAN member countries to discuss future
cooperation and partnership.

Regional Forum

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is a formal, official, multilateral dialogue in Asia Pacific
region. As of July 2007, it is consisted of 27 participants. ARF objectives are to foster dialogue
and consultation, and promote confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the region. The
ARF met for the first time in 1994. The current participants in the ARF are as follows: all the
ASEAN members, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the People's Republic of China, the European
Union, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New
Guinea, Russia, Timor-Leste, United States and Sri Lanka.[48] The Republic of China (also
known as Taiwan) has been excluded since the establishment of the ARF, and issues regarding
the Taiwan Strait is neither discussed at the ARF meetings nor stated in the ARF Chairman's
Statements.

Other meetings

Aside from the ones above, other regular meetings are also held. These include the annual
ASEAN Ministerial Meeting as well as other smaller committees, such as the Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Centre. Meetings mostly focus on specific topics, such as defence or the
environment, and are attended by Ministers, instead of heads of government.

Plus Three

The ASEAN plus Three is a meeting between ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea, and is
primarily held during each ASEAN Summit.

Asia-Europe Meeting

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an informal dialogue process initiated in 1996 with the
intention of strengthening cooperation between the countries of Europe and Asia, especially
members of the European Union and ASEAN in particular. ASEAN, represented by its
Secretariat, is one of the 45 ASEM partners. It also appoints a representative to sit on the
governing board of Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), a socio-cultural organisation associated
with the Meeting.

8
Economic Community
ASEAN has emphasised regional cooperation in the “three pillars” of security, socio-cultural and
economic integration. The regional grouping has made the most progress in economic
integration, aiming to create an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

Free Trade Area

The foundation of the AEC is the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), a common external
preferential tariff scheme to promote the free flow of goods within ASEAN. The ASEAN Free
Trade Area (AFTA) is an agreement by the member nations of ASEAN concerning local
manufacturing in all ASEAN countries. The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in
Singapore. When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members,
namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam joined in
1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The latecomers have not fully met the
AFTA's obligations, but they are officially considered part of the AFTA as they were required to
sign the agreement upon entry into ASEAN, and were given longer time frames in which to meet
AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.

Comprehensive Investment Area

The ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Area (ACIA) will encourage the free flow of
investment within ASEAN. The main principles of the ACIA are as follows:

 All industries are to be opened up for investment, with exclusions to be phased out
according to schedules
 National treatment is granted immediately to ASEAN investors with few exclusions
 Elimination of investment impediments
 Streamlining of investment process and procedures
 Enhancing transparency
 Undertaking investment facilitation measures

Full realisation of the ACIA with the removal of temporary exclusion lists in manufacturing
agriculture, fisheries, forestry and mining is scheduled by 2010 for most ASEAN members and
by 2015 for the CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam) countries.

Trade in Services

An ASEAN Framework Agreement on Trade in Services was adopted at the ASEAN Summit in
Bangkok in December 1995.[60] Under AFAS, ASEAN Member States enter into successive
rounds of negotiations to liberalise trade in services with the aim of submitting increasingly
higher levels of commitments. The negotiations result in commitments that are set forth in
schedules of specific commitments annexed to the Framework Agreement. These schedules are
often referred to as packages of services commitments. At present, ASEAN has concluded seven
packages of commitments under AFAS.

9
Single Aviation Market

The ASEAN Single Aviation Market (SAM), proposed by the ASEAN Air Transport Working
Group, supported by the ASEAN Senior Transport Officials Meeting, and endorsed by the
ASEAN Transport Ministers, will introduce an open-sky arrangement to the region by 2015. The
ASEAN SAM will be expected to fully liberalise air travel between its member states, allowing
ASEAN to directly benefit from the growth in air travel around the world, and also freeing up
tourism, trade, investment and services flows between member states. Beginning 1 December
2008, restrictions on the third and fourth freedoms of the air between capital cities of member
states for air passengers services will be removed, while from 1 January 2009, there will be full
liberalisation of air freight services in the region, while. By 1 January 2011, there will be
liberalisation of fifth freedom traffic rights between all capital cities.

Free Trade Agreements with Other Countries

ASEAN has concluded free trade agreements with China, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand
and most recently India. In addition, it is currently negotiating free trade agreement with the
European Union. Taiwan has also expressed interest in an agreement with ASEAN but needs to
overcome diplomatic objections from China.

Charter
On 15 December 2008 the members of ASEAN met in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta to
launch a charter, signed in November 2007, with the aim of moving closer to "an EU-style
community". The charter turns ASEAN into a legal entity and aims to create a single free-trade
area for the region encompassing 500 million people. President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono stated that "This is a momentous development when ASEAN is consolidating,
integrating and transforming itself into a community. It is achieved while ASEAN seeks a more
vigorous role in Asian and global affairs at a time when the international system is experiencing
a seismic shift," he added, referring to climate change and economic upheaval. Southeast Asia is
no longer the bitterly divided, war-torn region it was in the 1960s and 1970s." "The fundamental
principles include:

a) respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of
all ASEAN Member States; b) shared commitment and collective responsibility in enhancing
regional peace, security and prosperity; c) renunciation of aggression and of the threat or use of
force or other actions in any manner inconsistent with international law; d) reliance on peaceful
settlement of disputes; e) non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN Member States; f)
respect for the right of every Member State to lead its national existence free from external
interference, subversion and coercion; g) enhanced consultations on matters seriously affecting
the common interest of ASEAN; h) adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles
of democracy and constitutional government; i) respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion
and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice; j) upholding the United
Nations Charter and international law, including international humanitarian law, subscribed to by
ASEAN Member States; k) abstention from participation in any policy or activity, including the
use of its territory, pursued by and ASEAN Member State or non-ASEAN State or any non-State

10
actor, which threatens the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political and economic stability of
ASEAN Member States; l) respect for the different cultures, languages and religions of the
peoples of ASEAN, while emphasising their common values in the spirit of unity in diversity; m)
the centrality of ASEAN in external political, economic, social and cultural relations while
remaining actively engaged, outward-looking, inclusive and non-discriminatory; and n)
adherence to multilateral trade rules and ASEAN's rules-based regimes for effective
implementation of economic commitments and progressive reduction towards elimination of all
barriers to regional economic integration, in a market-driven economy".

However, the ongoing global financial crisis was stated as being a threat to the goals envisioned
by the charter, and also set forth the idea of a proposed human rights body to be discussed at a
future summit in February 2009. This proposition caused controversy, as the body would not
have the power to impose sanctions or punish countries that violate citizens' rights and would
therefore be limited in effectiveness.

Cultural activities
The organisation hosts cultural activities in an attempt to further integrate the region. These
include sports and educational activities as well as writing awards. Examples of these include the
ASEAN University Network, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, the ASEAN Outstanding
Scientist and Technologist Award, and the Singapore-sponsored ASEAN Scholarship.

S.E.A. Write Award

The S.E.A. Write Award is a literary award given to Southeast Asian poets and writers annually
since 1979. The award is either given for a specific work or as recognition of an author's lifetime
achievement. Works that are honoured vary and have included poetry, short stories, novels,
plays, folklore as well as scholarly and religious works. Ceremonies are held in Bangkok and are
presided over by a member of the Thai royal family.

ASAIHL

ASAIHL or the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning is a non-

governmental organisation founded in 1956 that strives to strengthen higher learning institutions,
especially in teaching, research, and public service, with the intention of cultivating a sense of
regional identity and interdependence.

Scholarship

The ASEAN Scholarship is a scholarship program offered by Singapore to the 9 other member
states for secondary school, junior college, and university education. It covers accommodation,
food, medical benefits & accident insurance, school fees, and examination fees.

11
University Network

The ASEAN University Network (AUN) is a consortium of Southeast Asian universities. It was
originally founded in November 1995 by 11 universities within the member states. Currently
AUN comprises 21 Participating Universities.

Southeast Asian Games

The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport
event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are
under regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia.

ASEAN Para Games

The ASEAN Para Games is a biennial multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games
for athletes with physical disabilities. The games are participated by the 11 countries located in
Southeast Asia. The Games, patterned after the Paralympics Games, are played by physically-
challenged athletes with mobility disabilities, visual disabilities, who are amputees and those
with cerebral palsy.

FESPIC Games/ Asian Para Games

The FESPIC Games, also known as the Far East and South Pacific Games for the persons with
disability, was the biggest multi-sports games in Asia and South Pacific region. The FESPIC
Games were held nine times and bowed out, a success in December 2006 in the 9th FESPIC
Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Games re-emerges as the 2010 Asian Para Games in
Guangzhou, China. The 2010 Asian Para Games will debut shortly after the conclusion of the
16th Asian Games, using the same facilities and venue made disability-accessible. The inaugural
Asian Para Games, the parallel event for athletes with physical disabilities, is a multi-sport event
held every four years after every Asian Games.

Football Championship

The ASEAN Football Championship is a biennial Football competition organised by the ASEAN
Football Federation, accredited by FIFA and contested by the national teams of Southeast Asia
nations. It was inaugurated in 1996 as Tiger Cup, but after Asia Pacific Breweries terminated the
sponsorship deal, "Tiger" was renamed "ASEAN".

Criticism
Western countries have criticised ASEAN for being too soft in its approach to promoting human
rights and democracy in the junta-led Myanmar. Despite global outrage at the military crack-
down on peaceful protesters in Yangon, ASEAN has refused to suspend Myanmar as a member
and also rejects proposals for economic sanctions. This has caused concern as the European

12
Union, a potential trade partner, has refused to conduct free trade negotiations at a regional level
for these political reasons.[81] International observers view it as a "talk shop", which implies that
the organisation is "big on words but small on action".

During the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, several activist groups staged anti-globalisation and
anti-Arroyo rallies. According to the activists, the agenda of economic integration would
negatively affect industries in the Philippines and would cause thousands of Filipinos to lose
their jobs. They also viewed the organisation as imperialistic that threatens the country's
sovereignty. A human rights lawyer from New Zealand was also present to protest about the
human rights situation in the region in general. ASEAN has agreed to an ASEAN human rights
body which will come into force in 2009. The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand
want this body to have an enforcement capacity; however Singapore, Vietnam, Burma, Laos and
Cambodia do not.

13