ASEAN round-up

• Based on the recent Singapore Global Dialogue, Edmund Sim comments on the areas where ASEAN as an entity needs to be strengthened (economic), and the areas where weakness can be quite useful (political-security). (He also blogs on the ASEAN Economic Community.) 
• A meeting of legal experts in Manila “has concluded that there is a legal basis for a proposal by the Philippines for joint economic development in disputed parts of the South China Sea". Bunn Nagara, however, comments on Manila’s “confusing if not also conflicting signals over the issue”.
• Meanwhile, the “haze” from forest fires in Indonesia continues to illustrate the problems of cooperation in SEA, and the limits of Indonesian leadership. After a recent meeting in Bangkok, ministers from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei called on Indonesia to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze. Singaporean Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan noted progress on the haze, but also continuing “serious concern”. As he put it, “Transboundary haze is one example in which, unfortunately, the economic interests of the culprits responsible for starting these fires are not aligned with the interests of larger society.” This is a misalignment that still impedes ASEAN cooperation on a number of fronts.
• Malaysian minister Rais Yatim has suggested the official use of the “Malay language” within ASEAN. “As regards which Malay is being proposed… Rais was not willing to answer.” There has also been a proposal to make Indonesian the official language of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
• The AIPA meeting took place last week, involving parliamentarians from Myanmar/Burma. The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, however, is still taking a sceptical line on progress there.