Creator: Chansambath Bong, Asian Imaginative and prescient Institute

Cambodia’s ASEAN diplomacy shone brightly on the worldwide stage in July 2022. In opposition to the backdrop of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, looming power and meals crises, the political upheaval in Myanmar and US Home of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s contentious journey to Taiwan, Cambodia superior ASEAN’s collective curiosity with a way of shared accountability.

Because the Chair of ASEAN for the third time, Cambodia efficiently hosted the fifty fifth ASEAN Overseas Ministers’ Assembly (AMM) and different high-stake annual fora such because the twenty third ASEAN Plus Three Overseas Ministers’ Assembly, the twelfth East Asia Summit and the twenty ninth ASEAN Regional Discussion board in 2022.

Delegations from 38 international locations and organisations convened in Phnom Penh for the AMM — the primary time in two years that ASEAN diplomats met in-person as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Provided that COVID-19 continues to be rampant in lots of elements of Southeast Asia, Cambodia’s choice to host the AMM in a very bodily setting is notable. The Cambodian authorities did a outstanding job of containing the virus and proved that Cambodia is able to holding high-level diplomacy amid a world public well being disaster.

Cambodia negotiated and swiftly launched the 119-paragraph annual ASEAN joint communique — a coverage doc indicating ASEAN’s collective views on regional and worldwide points. The speedy launch required a whole-of-government diplomatic effort. It was led by Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn, who additionally serves because the Particular Envoy of the ASEAN Chair. The communique touches on ASEAN community-building, Timor-Leste’s membership software, the conflict in Ukraine and ASEAN’s exterior partnership with Myanmar.

The Cambodian Chair has signalled a harder stance on the Myanmar disaster. ASEAN is pissed off by the State Administration Council (SAC) — Myanmar’s military-backed management — which has repeatedly undermined efforts to discover a viable political resolution to the deepening political disaster in Myanmar.

The ASEAN communique expressed collective disappointment in the direction of the SAC’s stonewalling of the implementation of the five-point consensus — ASEAN’s five-pronged strategy to peace in Myanmar. One level of rivalry was the SAC execution of 4 pro-democracy activists on 25 July 2022. It occurred regardless of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s attraction to SAC Senior Normal Min Aung Hlaing. Cambodia condemned the executions as ‘extremely reprehensible’.

There are calls from inside ASEAN to utterly ban SAC officers from taking part in any ASEAN conferences. In the course of the opening of the AMM, Hun Sen warned that ASEAN would rethink its function vis-à-vis the five-point consensus within the case of additional executions of political prisoners. Until the SAC cooperates with ASEAN between now and the ASEAN Summit in November, Cambodia and ASEAN might impose even harder measures on the SAC.

Because the Chair of ASEAN, Cambodia continues to be pushing for the swift implementation of the five-point consensus, beginning with low-hanging fruit like delivering humanitarian help. On 6 Might 2022, Cambodia co-hosted a consultative assembly with fellow ASEAN members, the ASEAN Secretary-Normal, UN specialised businesses and different stakeholders to chart a plan. Throughout his second go to in July, Prak Sokhonn then delivered the Chinese language donation of two million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Myanmar.

Cambodia additionally superior the five-point consensus by assembly with stakeholders together with political events, the Nationwide Solidarity and Peace Negotiation Committee and a few of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organisations.

Left with solely 4 extra months of its chairmanship, Cambodia stays dedicated to partaking with all stakeholders to allow a conducive setting for inclusive political dialogue. However Cambodia nonetheless faces a significant impediment to accessing all events. Regardless of repeated requests from Cambodia, the SAC is obstructing entry to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the outstanding political figures in Myanmar.

Cambodia has additionally ‘heard’ and reportedly been receptive to calls from Malaysia — usually conveyed over Twitter — to have interaction with the Nationwide Unity Authorities and the Nationwide Unity Consultative Council. However for now Cambodia opts for a extra discrete method of coping with Myanmar than Twitter diplomacy.

Cambodia shortly galvanised regional consent for a standalone assertion relating to Nancy Pelosi’s contentious Taiwan journey. The assertion is full of political nuance, urging ‘most restraint’ from concerned events and subtly referring to Taiwan because the ‘space adjoining to the ASEAN area’ to keep away from antagonising China. Taiwan isn’t mentioned by ASEAN however the assertion affirms ASEAN’s potential to answer exterior occasions.

The AMM and associated conferences in Phnom Penh gave new impetus to Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership software. As Chair, Cambodia has publicly supported Dili’s membership, regardless of continued reservation from fellow members like Singapore.

Cambodia’s chairmanship of the AMM and associated conferences final month are reminders of ASEAN’s adept and proactive diplomacy. From the crises in Myanmar to Taiwan, Cambodia has stored ASEAN united and set its sights on addressing challenges collectively throughout this chairmanship and past.

Chansambath Bong is Deputy Director of the Centre for Inclusive Digital Economic system on the Asian Imaginative and prescient Institute. He’s additionally Lecturer of Worldwide Relations on the Institute for Worldwide Research and Public Coverage on the Royal College of Phnom Penh.