ASEAN And Burma: Time To Account

For years the Association of South-East Asian Nations, representing one of the world’s most popular regions, has functioned as a robust and in no small measure successful economic forum.

While ASEAN has been happy to talk trade since it was formed in 1967, it has maintained the fiction of avoiding politics. It’s a means of politely ignoring the atrocities of one’s neighbours while continuing to trade on. Coupled with a consensus approach, this tack has brought harmony to the ASEAN process over the years.
 
The events of September 11, 2001 shook the ASEAN nations but remained remote enough not to cause too much immediate concern. What blew apart that calm was the terrorist bombings in Bali. ASEAN now faces some tough decisions about how much longer it can sustain the hands-off approach to issues such as terrorism, whether it be religiously inspired or state-sponsored.

Similarly, the recent arrest of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the killing of 100 of her supporters poses an enormous dilemma for ASEAN. Already there is United States pressure for a tougher regional stand on a regime whose excesses endanger the collective ASEAN family.

While for the moment maintaining the official position that Burma is a “manageable issue”, some ASEAN nations are clearly uncomfortable. The fact is that no international grouping can seriously pretend to adhere to the principles of rule of law while ignoring human rights violations on the scale of those being perpetrated by Burma’s rulers.

东盟（ASEAN）与缅甸：摊牌时刻到了

东南亚国家联盟（the Association of South-East Asian Nations）所属区是全世界人口最多的地区之一。 多年来东盟一直起着一个生机勃勃而且多半是成功的经济论坛的作用。

尽管东盟自1967年成立以来很乐意谈论贸易，但其一直维护着不谈政治的谎言。其做法就是文雅地回避邻国发生的暴行，同时却继续进行贸易交往。由于各成员国态度一致，此方法使得东盟多年来的运作一直处于很协调的状态之中。
2001 年“9.11”事件震动了东盟各国，但由于相距遥远，不足以产生太多直接的忧虑。巴厘岛（Bali）发生的恐怖分子爆炸案打破了这种平静。东盟目前所面临的困难决定就是，对于包括恐怖主义在内的问题（无论是宗教煽动的恐怖主义或是由国家资助的恐怖主义）， 东盟的回避政策能够继续多久。

最近缅甸反对党领导人昂山素姬（Aung San Sun Kyi）被捕，其100名支持者被害。此事同样给东盟提出了一个极大的难题。美国已经在施加压力，要求对任何犯下暴行、危害东盟大家庭的政权采取更强硬的区域性立场。

虽然一些东盟国家目前仍维护其官方立场，认为缅甸是一个“可以解决的问题”，但是他们很明显地感到不安。实际上，没有任何一个国际集团可以郑重其事地声称拥护法制原则，而同时却无视像缅甸统治者所犯下的那种大规模侵犯人权罪行的发生。