Asean agrees on landmark charter (Assoc. of SE Asian Nations).

BBC ^ | July 30, 2007. | Michael Barker

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Asean members hope to adopt the charter formally later this year

Ministers from South-East Asian countries have reached agreement on a landmark draft charter.

The document gives the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) a set of binding rules for the first time in the bloc's 40-year existence.

The agreement comes after nearly two years of deliberations among members.

It includes a contentious provision to set up a commission monitoring human rights in the region - despite strong misgivings from some Asean countries.

Credibility boost

With governments in the region running the gamut from fully-fledged democracies to a military dictatorship, finding consensus on a human rights commission was always going to be a tough sell.

Burma (Myanmar) - a country which has been heavily criticised for rights abuses in the past - had strongly opposed the commission right up to Monday's ministerial meeting in Manila.

It eventually gave grudging 11th-hour approval in the face of clamour from other members.

Diplomatic sources said Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam also had misgivings - fearing human rights probes could result in violations of the group's strict policy of non-interference in each others' affairs.

However the charter is seen as crucial for giving Asean - previously regarded as a mere talk shop - credibility and bargaining power on the world stage.

It will also help smooth the way for the group's aim of full economic integration.

The next step for the bloc - which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - is to formally adopt the landmark charter at its summit in November.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

At the time of posting, the title of this article was: “Asean agrees on landmark charter” .

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

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[RC2]

The list gets longer:
EU
UAE
NAU
SEA

Or.....”New World Order”. You ready to give up the U.S. Constitution?

[AmericanInTokyo]

That photo looks like Pudong, in Shanghai. Not Singapore, correct??

[Srirangan]

lol.. then i’ll run hiding from reptile men!

[DanielLongo]

I guess we’ll quickly observe what paper means to these folks.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Look at all the investment India and China are getting, to the detriment of Southeast Asia (compared to the investment they got before the Thai baht was devalued and the Asian financial crisis which followed). Bigger markets are viewed are more attractive to investment.

And while the NAU might come into existence, there is already NAFTA and CAFTA. The UAE is similar to the United States or the United Kingdom (which brings up a question--would people against the notion of union between Canada, the United States, and Mexico (not necessarily in an NAU, but the more basic concept of union) have been against the thirteen independent states after the American Revolution joining together into one 'superstate,' the United States of America?

Agree that this could be looked on from a globalist angle, that this will lead to one world government (which will eventually happen Biblically), but it could be looked on from a pragmatic angle, too.

Tribes unified into small fiefdoms as their ability to travel and their populations increased. Then those fiefdoms unified into city-states (if those fiefdoms weren't already city states). At this time, there were also large empires, but more tributary that absolute ruling. Those city-states in turn progressed into nation-states, as peoples became more aware of the larger world around them. Now, as the whole world is traversed and linked by trade, etc., and with there already being large countries who can now throw around their power further afield (i.e. China, India, and the United States), consolidation of smaller countries into larger entities makes sense (such as with the EU--they want more power, but their small countries no longer have the edge which they once had; so they merge into a larger bloc to wield more power).

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

The photograph is of Pudong district.