The Indochinese enlargement of ASEAN: security expectations and outcomes

Abstract The article examines the extent to which Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have gained from their participation in ASEAN. To assess the security and diplomatic benefits of their membership, it identifies three expectations held by the Indochinese states—enhanced international status, improved security and relations vis-à-vis other ASEAN members, and more room for manoeuvre when dealing with non-member states. The study demonstrates, however, that while Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are less isolated internationally after joining ASEAN, the actual benefits in terms of their relations with the other ASEAN members as well as non-member states have been more ambiguous. With ASEAN in mind, the article concludes by discussing the possible costs and drawbacks of enlargement that can transform any international organisation into a less influential and cohesive institution. Notes 1. The original ASEAN members were: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The offer to participate had been declined by Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos before the founding meeting in Bangkok in August 1967. 2. For discussions on the economic implications of the ASEAN enlargement, see Gates (2001 Gates Carolyn Than Mya 2001 ASEAN Enlargement: Impacts and Implications Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies [Google Scholar]) and Nesadurai (2003 Nesadurai Helen 2003 The Indo-Chinese Enlargement of ASEAN: Implications for Regional Economic Integration IDSS Working Paper No. 56 Singapore Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies [Google Scholar]). 3. SEATO was the institutional structure of the South-East Asia Collective Defence Treaty signed in Manila in September 1954 by the United States, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines. 4. The TAC also mentions other principles of the UN Charter and the principles endorsed at the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955. 5. This was especially true after 1987 when Vietnam was no longer able to rely on Soviet assistance to fund its military activities in Cambodia. The Soviet attempt to reach détente with China after the coming to power of Mikhael Gorbachev had led to the cessation of Soviet support for the occupation. 6. The AMM is an annual gathering of the ASEAN foreign ministers. It is a key instrument of regional diplomacy where security matters are commonly discussed. 7. For example, Dewi Fortuna Anwar argues that the three most important functions of ASEAN are to enhance regional harmony, to promote an autonomous regional order, and to act as an international bargaining tool, (Anwar 2001 Anwar Dewi Fortuna 2001 ASEAN's Enlargement: Political, Security, and Institutional Perspectives Mya Than Gates Carolyn L ASEAN Enlargement: Impacts and Implications Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies [Google Scholar]). 8. The ARF was inaugurated in Singapore in July 1993. Its initial participants were: Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Cambodia was admitted in 1995, India and Myanmar in 1996, Mongolia in 1998, North Korea in 2000, and Pakistan in 2004. 9. The ASEAN-PMC takes place just after the annual AMM and consists of bilateral serial discussions with ASEAN's dialogue partners that include Australia, New Zealand, EU, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Canada. 10. The overlapping territorial claims over the Spratly Islands represent a difficult case of disputed features between China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. The Paracel archipelago has been under Chinese control since 1974 and is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. Vietnam has laid claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels based on historical claims of discovery and occupation. It has also established a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). China views the South China Sea as an exclusive Chinese sea and claims nearly its entire territory. The territorial dispute has already led to military clashes between China and Vietnam in the Paracel archipelago in January 1974 and in the Spratlys in March 1988 resulting in Vietnamese casualties and the Chinese seizure of territory. 11. An indigenous ethnic group from Southern China, the Hmong are an ethnic minority in Laos and Vietnam. They played an important role during the Vietnam War by helping the Americans counter communist forces. Many left Laos after the communist take-over in 1975 and found refuge in Thailand, Australia, France and the United States. 12. The ASEAN-China FTA is expected to be a comprehensive agreement based on the progressive liberalisation of goods, services and investments. A Free Trade Area for Goods is to be established by 2010 among Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and China, and by 2015 for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. 13. The 2003 general elections in Cambodia were followed by 11 months of political deadlock due to the failure of Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh and their respective political parties, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the FUNCINPEC (National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia) to form a coalition government. Cambodia has also experienced a re-emergence of transnational crime in recent years and become a transit route for the trafficking of people.

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