SINGAPORE CONFIDENT ASEAN CHARTER WILL ADDRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 001638

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2017
TAGS: PREL PHUM ECON PGOV SN
SUBJECT: SINGAPORE CONFIDENT ASEAN CHARTER WILL ADDRESS
"COMPLIANCE"

REF: SINGAPORE 1545

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold. Reasons 1.4(b)(d)


1. (C) Summary: The ASEAN Charter is close to completion
and should be ready for ASEAN leaders to sign at the
November Summit in Singapore, MFA told us August 31. After
the November Summit, Singapore will use its position as
ASEAN Chairman to push for "transitional arrangements" to
move ASEAN from the Charter to a more integrated and
cohesive organization. Singapore has been a driving force
to include mechanisms to address "compliance" with ASEAN
agreements as part of the Charter and believes it has
agreement on this from the other members. The Charter will
also create a human rights body, but its mandate and the
standards it will apply have yet to be defined. End Summary.

ASEAN Charter
--------------


2. (SBU) ASEAN's draft Charter is close to completion with
most of its key provisions already agreed, MFA ASEAN
Directorate Senior Assistant Director Chua Ying Ying told
us August 31. During the last Senior Officials Meeting in
Manila, the officials agreed to include in the Charter the
establishment of a human rights body and to authorize the
principle of "ASEAN minus x" for economic agreements.
Under this formula, one or more ASEAN members could opt out
of an initiative while the rest of the organization moved
forward.

"Compliance" With ASEAN Agreements
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3. (C) Singapore believes it has achieved agreement on
mechanisms in the Charter to ensure that members live up to
their agreements with ASEAN. This is in response to a
recommendation from ASEAN,s Eminent Person,s Group (EPG) to
make ASEAN a more "rules-based" organization. ASEAN has
signed many agreements, but their utility is limited by
countries that do not implement them, Chua observed.
Singapore strongly supports this effort, and is largely
responsible for language on "compliance" in the draft
Charter, according to Chua. Under the proposed provisions,
the ASEAN Secretariat would be given the authority to monitor
the compliance of ASEAN members with organization agreements.
If a member state were in "breach" of an agreement, the
Secretariat would engage in discussions and arbitration with

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the state to encourage it to remedy the situation. If
arbitration failed, the matter would be referred to the
leaders level for resolution. Recalling earlier discussions
of possible penalties or sanctions against recalcitrant
members, Chua said the Charter would neither provide for nor
preclude them. The leaders could decide to punish a member,
although she acknowledged that four decades of ASEAN custom
has been to take decisions by consensus.

Outstanding Issues and The Way Forward
--------------


4. (C) Member states have not thus far expressed reservations
about the Charter infringing on their sovereignty, Chua
observed. Contrary to her expectations, Burma had been
cooperative so far in the development of the Charter,
including provisions providing for dispute settlement and
discussions of possible disciplinary action against members
judged to be in "breach" of their agreements.


5. (C) Regarding outstanding issues, Chua said the drafters
of the Charter are still working out how to define lines of
authority among various ASEAN-related bodies, including the
ASEAN Standing Committee and the Senior Officials Meeting.
The other key outstanding issue is what powers to give to the
ASEAN Secretariat. The ASEAN foreign ministers will meet in
late September in New York to review the draft text, which
would keep things on track for ASEAN leaders to sign the
final document at the November Summit in Singapore.


6. (SBU) The Charter is intended to be a "living document,"
Chua said. It will include a reference on the need to
review it on a regular (although not defined) basis. After
the November Summit, the GOS plans to use the rest of its
ASEAN Chairmanship to push for "transitional arrangements"
to move ASEAN from the Charter to a more integrated and
cohesive organization.

ASEAN Economic Community and the Environment
--------------


7. (SBU) In addition to signing the Charter at the November
Summit, the ASEAN leaders will also sign the blueprint for

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the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims to create a single
market for the region by 2015, Chua indicated. She
characterized the blueprint as a "legally binding" agreement.
(NOTE: Chua noted that the Philippines recently took over
as chairman of ASEAN's "economic track," which runs on a
schedule roughly one year behind -- rotating at the time of
the ASEAN Economic Minister,s Meeting -- the "political," or
foreign-ministry led track that Singapore currently chairs.
END NOTE.) The other main focus of the November Summit will
be the environment. Chua said that ASEAN would issue two
declarations, one on environmental sustainability and the
other on promoting "livable cities."

Human Rights Body
--------------


8. (C) The Charter language on the ASEAN human rights body
is relatively vague, Chua admitted. There is only
agreement on establishing it. The Charter does not discuss
what powers the body will have nor what human rights
standards it will apply. (Note: The GOS has already
indicated publicly that the creation of the human rights
body will not lead to any changes in Singapore's laws,
which include restrictions on freedom of speech and
assembly. During question time in Singapore's Parliament
on August 27, Second Foreign Minister Raymond Lim said, "I
do not see the human rights body affecting Singapore's
domestic laws or foreign policy. It will, however, raise
ASEAN's international standards." End Note.)

Closing the Development Gap
--------------


9. (C) At the urging of the newer ASEAN members (Burma,
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam),the Charter will include a
provision to establish a fund into which ASEAN members and
ASEAN dialogue partners may voluntarily contribute funds
for development assistance. The newer ASEAN members have
long urged the older and more economically-developed ASEAN
members to provide aid and technical assistance to help
them close the development gap, Chua said. Singapore is
presently the largest contributor of assistance to the
newer members -- it has focused on providing human resource
development through a variety of training courses
(Reftel). The GOS does not believe in providing any cash
assistance, Chua added.

Comment
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10. (C) The GOS appears pleased with the progress to date on
the ASEAN Charter and the apparent lack of obstructionism on
the part of less-developed members on promoting mechanisms to
ensure compliance with the organization,s agreements. The
more difficult struggle will lie ahead, however, in turning
some of the vaguer precepts in the Charter into actual
practice and transforming ASEAN into a more integrated, and
rules-based, organization.

Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm
HERBOLD