1st US-ASEAN Meeting

US President Barack Obama met with all 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) national leaders in Singapore on 15 November. It was a historical meeting. The US-ASEAN meeting deepened the footprints of the United States in the ASEAN region.

Historic Summit
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at a press conference after the meeting that the United States and all ASEAN leaders were willing to talk and that made the US-ASEAN meeting possible to take place in Singapore. He said the meeting itself was of great significance.
He said: "ASEAN leaders felt that holding talk with the US President was important. During the meeting, although US President Obama did encounter some difficulty when issue on Myanmar was touched. But overall, he still felt that having a group meeting with all ASEAN member countries was valuable. This shows that meeting is of great significance."
Moreover, President Obama also said: "I am honored to participate in this historic summit."

Myanmar Issue
This was also the first meeting between a US President with the Myanmar Junta Government. Over the past years, the United States has imposed sanctions on Myanmar in protest of the human rights situation in the country. To avoid meeting with the Myanmar national leader, the United States has in the past refused to establish a dialogue partner status with ASEAN since 1977. The United States, then also did not want to hold meeting with all 10 ASEAN members in one setting.
However, the self-imposed Myanmar in isolation is also a country, which is unwilling to get in touch with countries that the junta government considered as trying to interfere with Myanmar 's internal affairs. However, a high-level US Government official team did manage to visit Myanmar and met the junta government officials last week. They also managed to meet the opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic minorities. This was a breakthrough for the United States in dealing with the Myanmar junta during the past 14 years.
President Obama's willingness to meet the entire ASEAN national leader, including Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein signifies that the United States will no longer give up its contact and dialogue with ASEAN just because of one thorny issue on Myanmar.
According to White House Press Secretary Gibbs, at the US-ASEAN meeting President Obama had asked the Burmese junta leader to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. However, the joint statement issued by the United States and ASEAN later had totally failed to mention the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but only gently urged Myanmar to carry out a free, fair, and inclusive general elections in next year.
Prime Minister Lee said: "This is a meeting of consensus. Both parties think that the relationship built during the meeting is worthwhile. We agree that we should strive to cooperate on a wide range of issues in order to expand and deepen this bilateral relationship between ASEAN and the United States."
After meeting with US President Obama, ASEAN member countries will carry out a number of follow-up activities and cooperation projects with the United States. These will include the US willingness to provide more opportunities for ASEAN people to study the English language and for the United States to provide more opportunities for ASEAN students to study in the United States and for the United States to provide assistance in science and technology development for ASEAN countries, among others. In 2010, the United States will send US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to ASEAN member countries to discuss issues relating to the development of clean energy. The United States will also invite members of ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission formed last month to visit the United States next year, so that the ASEAN Human Right Commission members can exchange views with international human rights experts in the United States.
When accepting a media interview, ASEAN Secretary General Surin said that the US-ASEAN meeting symbolized that the relationship between the United States and ASEAN was going through a process of "seismic" change. The new ties between the United States and Southeast Asia has emerged a "new dawn."

Joint Statement
This year, the United States has signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with ASEAN, with pledge not to use force on ASEAN countries. The United States has also appointed Scot Marciel, deputy assistant secretary of state, as the ambassador for ASEAN Affairs. The United States will also establish an US-ASEAN Affairs office at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
At the US-ASEAN joint statement issued on 15 November, President Obama reaffirmed the core role of ASEAN in the process of building a regional architecture in this region. All parties at the meeting also proclaimed in the joint statement that they would support the concept of the formation of a regional achievement that is open. This joint statement can be interpreted to mean that ASEAN wants to provide space for the United States to join in the future formation of any regional community framework.

Other Issues
Thailand is the rotating chair for ASEAN this year. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit, who co-chaired the US-ASEAN meeting, said after 15 November meeting that "ASEAN is prepared to take the United States in as a reliable and trustworthy partner. ASEAN will join hands with the United States to deal with regional and international challenges on issues pertaining to climate change issue, the Doha Round of trade negotiations and counterterrorism."
The US-ASEAN meeting was held at the Shangri-La Hotel. Two years ago, Singapore had originally planned to establish this US-ASEAN dialogue partnership ties as ASEAN celebrated its 30th anniversary. But the meeting was cancelled because former US President George W. Bush who had earlier promised to attend the proposed summit had to visit the Middle East over some crisis in Iraq. During the same year in September, when former US President Bush attended APEC held in Sydney, Bush also invited all ASEAN leaders to his Texas ranch for a relaxed barbecue party. But the originally plan of Bush in wanting to host the barbeque party for ASEAN leaders every other year also did not materialize.
In 2007, ASEAN leaders' plan to engage a formal summit with the US national leader has failed twice. This has given the international community the general speculation that the United States did not attach any importance to ASEAN. But on 15 November, President Obama has reiterated the US intention to strengthen ties with ASEAN.
The second US-ASEAN summit will be held in 2010.