Timor Leste officially applied for membership to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last week in an effort to reap the economic and political advantages that come with membership to the regional organization. Despite the backing of Indonesia, the current chair of the ASEAN, Timor Leste’s path to membership will be arduous with several other members reluctant to support another poor nation whilst efforts to integrate economically weaker countries such as Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are incomplete.
However, we believe that Timor Leste should be allowed to join the ASEAN immediately and the United States should firmly support this move.
Membership for Timor Leste with support from Indonesia would be a big step forward in the two countries’ relations given their turbulent past. Timor Leste achieved independence from Indonesia in 2002 after a long and traumatic struggle. The atrocities of 25+ years of Indonesian occupation are undoubtedly still fresh in the minds of the Timorese people and this gesture from Indonesia would go a long way in placating that tension and be important for the promulgation of peace in the region.
At the end of Indonesia’s current term, chairmanship of the ASEAN will pass to Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, in that order, for one year each. None of these countries currently support Timor Leste’s application and delaying the process for so many years would only put Timor Leste further behind on its development path. This would be unfair treatment of a country that has paid its dues as an observer/candidate state to the ASEAN for the last nine years and worked hard towards meeting the strict criteria for membership which is best represented by its average annual GDP growth rate of 8% from 2007-09. Of course several challenges remain with 40% of Timorese still living below the poverty line but this is exactly where the ASEAN can help – work with Timor Leste’s government to translate growth in a few isolated sectors into widespread development and political stability.
So where does the United States fit into this debate? As a participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit, it has the opportunity to assist in the development of 1.2 million Timorese without spending a dime by supporting Timor Leste’s application and ensuring the country receives its fair share of development aid from the ASEAN. Additionally, the Asia Pacific region is strategically very important and helping to build an integrated ASEAN is important to check the unabated spread of Chinese influence in the region. Finally, and most importantly, this is an opportunity for the United States to use its influence for a just cause.
