ASEAN's handling of the Philippines-Malaysia Sabah Conflict Flashcards
How was ASEAN effective as a platform for informal discussions and diplomatic efforts?
1968 2nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting did not officially raise the Sabah issue, but leaders of PHP and MY dealt with it informally on the sidelines
Crucially, ASEAN succeeded in enabling informal diplomacy and communication between two countries even after the Corregidor Incident and the severance of diplomatic ties → establishing basis for the improvement of relations
How was ASEAN effective in informally pressuring PHP and MY to exercise restraint in their management of the dispute?
After December 1969 UN ECAFE, leaders of MY and PHP agreed to ‘cooling off period’
Had a positive effect in preventing further escalation of the crisis after the Corregidor Incident → both states reluctant to imperil their standing as ASEAN members
Why was ASEAN unable to play the role of conflict mediator in a formal and legalistic sense and hence unable to bring a concrete settlement to the Sabah dispute?
1968 Corregidor Incident → escalation of conflict points to how ASEAN Way and principle of non-interference has failed to concretely resolve inter-state tensions
Sep 1968 PHP passes Republic Act 5446 asserting Filipino sovereignty over Sabah → PM Tunku Abdul Rahman denounced such an act of aggression
Without binding mechanism to ensure member states’ compliance with agreements → ASEAN Way and principle of non-interference demonstrated ASEAN’s inability to concretely resolve inter-state tensions
Overall Verdict
Be judicious about using this metric as an evaluation of ASEAN’s effectiveness:
ASEAN subscribes to principle of conflict avoidance - bilateral disputes are intentionally kept out of formal ASEAN Forum to ensure that countries need not formally take sides between disputing parties
Hence, ASEAN was never set up to be a platform for concrete resolution of bilateral disputes → should not be overtly blamed
