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It's time for reality check, leaders agree

Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders meeting in Singapore are expected to take a critical look at themselves.

'Asean is going through very important challenges, when questions have been asked about the future of Asean,' Singapore's Foreign Minister, S. Jayakumar, said. 'The leaders will have a very wide agenda.'

With political instability in Indonesia and the Philippines and uncertainty in Malaysia, there are doubts about Asean's viability in the absence of serious reforms. Asean leaders have indicated they are willing to discuss previously off-limits issues such as good governance and economic reforms.

'Good governance, reforms - we are happy to talk about these issues,' Malaysia's Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, said.

When they meet this morning, the leaders will have before them a report by a group of experts who have recommended ways to strengthen the regional grouping. The experts are understood to have raised the question of good governance, a term which includes greater economic and political openness and transparency.

'We will debate these issues openly, within the principles of consensus and non-interference,' Mr Albar said, adding that the aim was to 'talk freely without getting worried'.

A group of regional think-tanks urged Asean to scrap its core principle of non-interference in members' domestic affairs. 'It's hampering us now,' said Jusuf Wanandi, head of the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. 'If Indonesia goes down the drain, the entire Asean will go down the drain. How can you not comment on the internal affairs of Indonesia?'

Suchit Bunbongkarn, of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said the hands-off policy has prevented Asean from dealing with Burma on the issue of drug trafficking along its border with Thailand. New security issues were also emerging such as trans-national crime, cyber-crime, mass migration, environmental problems and drug dealing and members should be willing to 'cede a degree of national sovereignty' in order to solve such issues.

'[Asean leaders] must themselves make more effort at peer review and establish a more rules-based system for greater coherence,' said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, writing in the Straits Times newspaper.

There are expected to be differences within the 10 Asean countries on how far to go in the direction of greater openness. The recent entrants to the group - Burma, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - have a long way to go before they embrace the economic openness of the older Asean members.

On political openness, there are differences as well between countries like the Philippines and Thailand, which have championed the virtues of Western liberal democracy, and Singapore and Malaysia, which have been traditionally sceptical about the relevance of liberal democracy to Asian societies.

Singapore has indicated that it wants to focus discussions on how to make the group more coherent and unified. 'I do know that the Prime Minister hopes that there will be a discussion on how Asean will stay cohesive,' Mr Jayakumar said. Singapore also has signalled that it will continue to push for quicker regional economic integration and measures to increase competitiveness.

Malaysia has indicated that the creation of a stronger Asean identity will be high on its list of priorities.

The gathering will be followed tomorrow by a meeting that will include the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea - the 'Asean plus three' summit.

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