Recognizing Regions: ASEAN’s Struggle for Recognition Bernard Ong Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan Table of Contents List of Abbreviations iii List of Illustrations v Acknowledgements vi Abstract vii Chapter One: Overview 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Literature review 5 1.3 Methodology 17 1.4 Contributions and importance of study 20 1.5 Outline of dissertation 26 Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework 36 2.1 Definitions: “Regions”, “regionhood” and “recognition” 37 2.2 Personhood: Recognition discourse within a society of individuals 43 2.3 Statehood: Recognition discourse within a society of states 52 2.4 Regionhood: Proposed model for the recognition of regions 58 2.5 Hypotheses and expected outcomes 69 Chapter Three: Misrecognition and Non-recognition of ASEAN 74 3.1 ASEAN and Southeast Asia: The challenge of rival regional groupings 77 3.2 ASEAN and Southeast Asia: The restriction on membership 88 3.3 ASEAN and the communist powers 93 3.4 Misrecognition of ASEAN 104 3.5 Non-recognition of ASEAN 115 Chapter Four: Australia and Japan’s Recognition of ASEAN 121 4.1 ASEAN’s economic identity 124 4.2 ASEAN-Australia: Denial of entry into ASEAN and non-recognition 126 4.3 ASEAN-Australia: The push for a wider regional grouping 132 4.4 ASEAN-Australia: The beginning of recognition 138 4.5 ASEAN-Japan: The struggle for Japan’s recognition 143 4.6 ASEAN-Japan: Malaysia’s regional approach to solving national problems 150 4.7 ASEAN-Japan: The first ASEAN Summit 155 4.8 ASEAN-Australia and ASEAN-Japan: In retrospect 164 i Chapter Five: EEC and U.S. Recognition of ASEAN 172 5.1 ASEAN-EEC: The motivations for recognition 174 5.2 ASEAN-EEC: The struggle within ASEAN for recognition 177 5.3 ASEAN-EEC: The beginning of recognition 181 5.4 ASEAN-U.S.: The sway in U.S. non-recognition 189 5.5 ASEAN-U.S.: The beginning of recognition 194 5.6 ASEAN-U.S.: The consequence of incomplete recognition 206 5.7 ASEAN-EEC and ASEAN-U.S.: In retrospect 217 Chapter Six: Conclusion 223 6.1 ASEAN’s struggle for recognition: An overview 226 6.2 Recognition model for regions: A revisit 235 6.3 Recognition: A transformative process 243 6.4 Recognition: ASEAN in the 21st century 249 6.5 Recognition matters: ASEAN’s centrality in the regional architecture 256 Reference 261 ii List of Abbreviations ABC ASEAN Brussels Committee ADB Asian Development Bank AFTA ASEAN Free Trade Area APC Asia-Pacific Community APCAC Asian Pacific Council of American Chambers APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Community ASA Association of Southeast Asia ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASPAC Asian and Pacific Council EAC East Asia Community EAEC East Asia Economic Caucus ECSC European Coal and Steel Community EEC European Economic Community EU European Union FPDA Five Power Defense Arrangement FTA Free Trade Agreement G8 Group of Eight G20 Group of Twenty GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GSP Generalized System of Preferences ICJ International Court of Justice IMF International Monetary Fund JSG Joint Study Group LDC Least Developed Countries MEDSEA Ministerial Conference for Economic Development in South-East Asia MFN Most Favored Nation MTN Multilateral Trade Negotiations NAA National Archives of Australia NARA National Archives and Records Administration OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries PNG Papua New Guinea SCCAN Special Coordinating Committee of ASEAN Nations SEA Southeast Asia SEAARC South-East Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization SPCG Southwest Pacific Consultative Group UN United Nations UNGA United Nations General Assembly iii UNSC United Nations Security Council USG United States Government WB World Bank WTO World Trade Organization ZOPFAN Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality iv List of Illustrations Reference 1 Demand and Supply of Recognition 59 Reference 2 Acharya’s Security Community Model 65 Reference 3 Proposed Model for the Recognition of Regions 67 Reference 4 The Transformative Process of Recognition 244 Reference 5 Milestones of U.S. Recognition – ASEAN versus EU 247 v Acknowledgements The journey would not have been possible without the tireless guidance of my two academic advisers, Professor Shujiro Urata and Professor Takashi Terada. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The opening tribute goes to my venerable coach, Professor Terada, without whose encouragement and strong support, I would not have gathered the courage to make the intellectual voyage to Tokyo. I thank Professor Terada for believing in my research and showing me the way to arrive at academic excellence. I had the privilege of learning from one of the brightest minds in economics. Words cannot express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Urata who had been a kind and supportive mentor in this expedition. I am also grateful to Professor Hatsue Shinohara for having me in her seminars and for her invaluable advice which motivated me to press on in this scholarly pursuit. I thank the Government of Japan for awarding me the prestigious Monbukagakusho Scholarship (文部科学省奨学金) to undertake this expedition. I thank my family and friends in Singapore for their love and support. I am indebted to my wife, Michelle, for her unceasing prayers and for cheering me on each step of the way. She gave me strength to go the extra mile. This marathon is dedicated to her. Above all, I thank the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, for the power and the strength to run the distance and cross the finishing line. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) vi Abstract Does recognition matter for a region as much as it does for a state and a person? This dissertation1 examines the power of recognition in shaping regional cooperation. Rather than focusing on the behaviours and interactions between member states which most studies have done, the discussion introduces a recognition model to investigate how the social practices of a region with non-member entities promote regional cooperation. By viewing recognition as a tradable commodity and an independent variable, the framework illustrates how the contest for recognition permeates beyond inter-personal and inter-state interactions to include the struggle for recognition by regions. The model hypothesizes that the extent of recognition accorded to a region has an influence on its development. Drawing on newly released U.S. and Australian declassified diplomatic records, this dissertation tests out the soundness of the proposed model for the recognition of regions by analyzing ASEAN’s struggle for recognition during its formative years in the 1960-70s with major powers, including the U.S., Soviet Union, Japan, the European Economic Community, China and Australia. The findings suggest that the strengthening of a regional concept is influenced by the willingness of, and the extent to which, foreign powers recognize the entity. The central theme of this dissertation is that external recognition plays an important function in the development of a regional concept. Key words: ASEAN; East Asia; recognition; regionalism; regional cooperation; regionhood. 1 A shorter paper based on the key thrusts of this dissertation has been accepted for publication in a UK peer-review journal. See Ong, B., Recognizing Regions: ASEAN’s Struggle for Recognition, The Pacific Review (forthcoming 2012). vii Chapter 1: Overview 1.1 Introduction In a telegram to the U.S. State Department on 18 February 1976, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia David Newsom proposed for President Ford to sign off a congratulatory letter to be delivered to Indonesian President Soeharto, on the occasion of the first Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Summit Meeting on 23-24 February 1976, with the suggested text below: Dear President Soeharto, The first meeting of ASEAN Chiefs of Government in Bali is an event of historic importance. On this occasion I would like to convey through you, as host for the conference, my best wishes to each of the assembled leaders and my sincere hope that their deliberations will yield many positive benefits to the peoples of the ASEAN nations. Sincerely, Gerald R. Ford (U.S. Embassy in Jakarta 1976a) The proposed presidential message was never delivered to ASEAN. After careful considerations, Washington decided against dispatching the congratulatory note to ASEAN. The U.S. State Department (1976a) explained that its decision not to send the letter was based on “various factors including our awareness of ASEAN concern over its non-aligned image and counter-point of our not wishing to appear 1 overly aloof”. Crossing over to the other side of the Pacific, the Government of Japan was also trying to ascertain if its closest allies like Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. would be extending a congratulatory message to ASEAN in the weeks leading to that inaugural Summit. How did the question of whether to send such a simple congratulatory letter to the Southeast Asian grouping, formalized more than 10 years ago in 1967, become such a controversial and political decision? What is at stake here are the effects that such political acts of recognition, in this case, the dispatch of a congratulatory letter, have on the development of regional concepts like ASEAN and how such external recognition or actions influence the attitudes and behaviors of member states within the grouping, as well as that of other external actors toward the entity. The role and power of recognition is an area which has been largely neglected in the study of regional cooperation. Between states, international law looks at how recognition of a prior-state confers legal status and international personality.