Foreign Policy of ASEAN and Surrender of Sovereignty
The surrender of sovereignty is a sensitive thing to relatively new countries, and it may or may not happen in the distant future. But what can happen in the medium term is a commitment to give away, without formal giving away, on an issue-by-issue basis as a certain right.
Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Munir Abdul Majid, Chairman of Bank Muamalat and Chairman of ASEAN-BAC Malaysia talks about governance of ASEAN and surrender of sovereignty.
He says, “The surrender of sovereignty is a sensitive thing to relatively new countries, and it may or may not happen in the distant future. But what can happen in the medium term is a commitment to give away, without formal giving away, on an issue-by-issue basis as a certain right.”
“For example, if you take the South China Sea disputes; I am critical of ASEAN there because under the 2002 agreement – Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea – there was a provision that the signatory countries of this declaration would try to establish a code of conduct, but they didn’t push forward or entrench this. Only now, they are trying to push this code of conduct – 10 years later,” he said.
“Why? Because there was a Scarborough Shoal standoff, China has become more assertive, other countries became more reactive, and the situation has become more complicated as the US has pivoted toward Asia,” he concluded.