Forced Smiles in Southeast Asia, as Relations Turn Sour  
International Herald Tribune
May 23, 2000
Michael Richardson  

Diverging levels of political stability and allegations of political interference in internal affairs are straining relations among Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore — four of the five countries that formed the original core of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

Analysts said Monday that although there had been periodic stresses in bilateral relations between some of these countries in recent years, they had not occurred simultaneously before.

The new tensions are unlikely to lead to a major rift between any of the ASEAN members. But the discord adds to the impression of disarray in the association as it tries to play down separatist and sectarian conflicts in the Philippines and Indonesia and seeks to attract fresh foreign capital to the region after investors fled in droves during the East Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998.

The Philippines is upset with Malaysia for allegedly interfering in its domestic affairs after the Malaysian ambassador to Manila on Thursday met with leaders of the Abu Sayyaf separatist rebels who are holding hostages, including nine Malaysians, on Jolo Island in the southern Philippines.

Philippine officials said that the ambassador, Mohamed Arshad Hussain, had jeopardized the efforts of Manila's own negotiators to gain the release of the captives. Gunmen seized the 21 hostages from the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan on April 23 and carried them by speedboat to the Philippines.

Ronaldo Zamora, the Philippine executive secretary, said that Manila's negotiating team, which is led by a presidential envoy, Robert Aventajado, apparently did not know of Malaysia's intervention with the Abu Sayyaf rebels.

"We understand Malaysia is in a very difficult position," Mr. Zamora said. "But we discourage this kind of unilateral activity because it confuses negotiations."

In addition to the nine Malaysian hostages, Abu Sayyaf is holding two Filipinos, two South Africans, three Germans, two French, two Finns and one Lebanese.

Malaysia, meanwhile, is unhappy that President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia met last week with the Malaysian opposition leader Azizah Ismail, the wife of Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's imprisoned former deputy prime minister.

Rubbing salt into the wound, Amien Rais, the head of Indonesia's highest law-making body, the People's Consultative Assembly, also met with Mrs. Azizah and accused Kuala Lumpur of being "uncivilized" in the way it has treated Mr. Anwar, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power.

Mr. Anwar is also on trial on charges of sodomy, which is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and whipping. He has pleaded not guilty, saying that all the charges against him were brought to keep him from exposing corruption in the government of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.

"The Malaysian government should treat Anwar Ibrahim as a political detainee and no longer as a common criminal," Mr. Rais said.

Malaysia's relations with Singapore are already strained by water supplies, and the location of a border post on the railway linking the two countries. Mr. Mahathir recently aggravated those strains by making it clear that he opposed a bid by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. to take a substantial minority stake in Time Engineering Bhd., a Malaysian telecommunications company, because the Singapore company is majority-owned by the government of Singapore. The bid subsequently failed.

Singapore has reacted to the tensions around it by calling for enhanced trade and investment ties with countries outside the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore hoped its neighbors in ASEAN would overcome their problems and put in place the political conditions to underpin long-term sustainable growth.

"At the same time, we have to reach beyond our region," he said. "We need to hitch ourselves to the global economy, to broaden the basis of our prosperity. This will buffer us from some of the region's problems in a downturn."

ASEAN was formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand to maintain regional stability and promote economic growth. Brunei, Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia subsequently joined the group.

Michael Leifer, head of Asian Studies at London School of Economics, said, "An enlarged and more diverse ASEAN with 10 governments has displayed internal divisions of both political and economic interests, which have retarded its institutional progress."

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