By Dr. Sawraj Singh
The 20th Summit of the ASEAN was recently held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Unlike the BRICS summit in New Delhi, this summit was hardly noticed by world media. Even in the Asian media this was barely mentioned. It is clear that after the inception of the ASEAN 45 years ago, the organization has seen a big drop in its influence. Compared to the 19th summit, the 20th summit appears to be marginalized to the point that questions can be raised about the relevance of this organization, and the organization appears to be moving toward redundancy.
The painful truth about the organization is that the growing influence of the organization in reality reflects the overall rise of Asia, of which China is the main force. Now, some of the ASEAN countries have again fallen into the lap of the USA and joined the American efforts to contain China. The organization has not only lost its importance and prestige, but has almost become irrelevant and redundant.
China has been able to line up the giants of Asia, Russia and India, while many pygmies are jumping into the American camp. However, unlike the Lilliputs, who were able to tie the sleeping Gulliver, these pygmies will be unable to tie China because China is very much awake. I have many times compared America to Bhasma Sur, an interesting character in Hindu mythology. Whosoever embraced Bhasma Sur, perished. I am afraid the ASEAN can meet the same fate. America has incited some of the ASEAN countries to assert their claim on the South China Sea. This has effectively divided the organization. A divided house carries no weight. All those countries that will choose to join a declining power and go against the rising power will be severely punished by history. The ASEAN countries should compare the coverage they received from the world media to the coverage of the BRICS countries, and see the obvious that they have already lost the game.
If instead of becoming an American puppet, the ASEAN had worked to join the other two important regions of Asia, i.e. East Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea) and South Asia (the Indian subcontinent), then the ASEAN could have become a rallying point for a Pan-Asian alliance. The greatest tragedy is that one cannot lose their slavish mentality even when one is physically free. The sad fact is that the ASEAN countries were first colonies of the old colonialists, and then they became the neo-colonies of the imperialists. Some of the ASEAN countries have been unable to shed their slavish mentality even after winning the wars against the imperialists and acting as a source of inspiration to the rest of the world.
The world is suffering from a twin tragedy of western arrogance and Eastern inferiority complex. I will like to give a personal example. Sometime ago, while addressing a group of scholars in an American university, I stated my observation that after travelling from the far East (Japan) to the far West (America), I feel that as you move from the East to the West, the depth of culture seems to decrease. One American scholar rose and thanked me for calling the American culture superficial. He said the fact is that we do not have a culture yet, and we have only been able to evolve a work-ethic, because evolution of culture takes many centuries and we are a very young country. To my utter disappointment, I have just heard from an Indian writer in a gathering of scholars in an Indian university that western culture is superior to eastern culture. Arrogance and ignorance like each other’s company. Therefore, only the ignorant western and Indian worshippers of the West come to the same arrogant conclusion of the superiority of western culture; while the enlightened people in the West and the East see the obvious that the Eastern culture is much deeper and more evolved.
The ASEAN countries should realize that whether they join an Asian alliance or an anti-Asian alliance, the rise of Asia and decline of the West are the two major trends which will not change. The 21st century is destined to be Asia’s century, whether they become a part of it or oppose it. They should also understand that America and the Western countries want Asia to become the arena for a Third World War. It is up to the Asian countries either to fall into the western trap or refuse to become a part of an anti-Asian strategy. After all, China is the largest country in Asia, and the other Asian countries have to somehow learn to live with it. From a practical point of view, it makes sense of not becoming enemies of the crocodile while living in the same river. Will America risk an all-out war with China in the Chinese backyard in order to protect an insignificant country in Asia? I doubt this very seriously.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
