Myanmar's ties with ASEAN remain strained despite signs of renewed engagement
The country is seeking to normalise ties with the regional bloc after years of being sidelined from top-level meetings.
by Leong Wai Kit · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
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Myanmar marked 29 years as an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member on Thursday (Jul 23), but its ties with the regional bloc remain strained more than five years after the 2021 military coup, despite recent signs of renewed engagement.
Following the coup, ASEAN excluded Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing and his foreign minister from its high-level meetings until there is meaningful progress on the bloc's Five-Point Consensus to end hostilities.
The consensus calls for an immediate cessation of violence, constructive dialogue among all parties, the appointment of a special envoy to mediate talks, humanitarian assistance and the envoy's access to all parties concerned.
CONSENSUS STILL UNFULFILLED
More than five years on, analysts say the plan has yet to be meaningfully implemented.
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Even so, engagement between Myanmar and ASEAN has never been completely cut off. The country has continued to be represented at meetings by non-political officials.
That approach was evident on Jul 12, when Thailand facilitated an in-person meeting involving ASEAN foreign ministers, including Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe.
The engagement comes as Myanmar seeks to normalise ties with ASEAN after years of being sidelined from the bloc's top-level meetings.
In April, Min Aung Hlaing said: “We are members of ASEAN. So, we will get back to a normal relationship with ASEAN.”
Yet the grouping continues to engage Myanmar under carefully defined terms.
A DELICATE BALANCING ACT
The current situation echoes ASEAN's approach three decades ago.
Following Myanmar's military crackdown on the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the bloc pursued what it described as "constructive engagement" rather than isolation, even as the country was widely regarded as a pariah state.
Myanmar eventually joined ASEAN in 1997.
It embarked on political reforms, including ushering in a quasi-civilian government under former general Thein Sein in 2011. Later, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 2015 and 2020 elections.
Analysts say responsibility now rests with Myanmar's current generation of leaders to chart a path forward – one that can not only repair ties with ASEAN but, importantly, begin the country's long process of national reconciliation.
Khin Zaw Win, director of policy advocacy organisation Tampadipa Institute, said one of the new government's first foreign policy challenges would be normalising ties with ASEAN.
Plans for engaging ASEAN should have been prepared even before the elections, he added. “Those kinds of policy documents have to be prepared by a trained professional staff.”
ROAD AHEAD UNCERTAIN
Yet Naypyidaw is also sending mixed signals.
Earlier this month, Myanmar's parliament passed a motion calling for the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus to be rejected, with lawmakers arguing that the bloc has failed to acknowledge the country's reform efforts and that the plan no longer reflects Myanmar's political landscape.
The opposition National Unity Government (NUG), however, has called on ASEAN to step up efforts to implement it.
“This is the time to implement and to put more pressure on ... operationalising the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus,” said NUG’s Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung.
“Engagement with the democratic and resistance stakeholders must become regular and coordinated and politically meaningful.”
As ASEAN continues engaging Myanmar under current conditions, observers say the meetings risk being interpreted as lending legitimacy to the country's new government.
“Some countries have another position, which is engagement without recognition,” said Sharon Seah, principal fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“They want to help build some bridges of communication with the new government, but yet at the same time, there's a problem of according formal recognition.”
Still, experts said Myanmar is likely to present such interactions as diplomatic progress.
“From Myanmar's point of view, there is no difference – engagement is engagement,” said Seah.
“I suppose, from a very macro perspective, is this signal that there are other countries willing to cooperate with Myanmar,” she added.
“For investors – without looking into the details – they will see that maybe Myanmar is prepared to transition to a path of normalcy, as opposed to what has happened in the last five years.”
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