Page 414 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition

disputes in a peaceful manner, with Chinese and ASEAN officials agreeing to
draft guidelines in order to avert tension in the South China Sea, an important
milestone ending almost a decade of deadlock.

Despite this success, some academics continue to argue that ASEAN’s non-
interference principle has worsened efforts to improve in the areas of Burma,
human rights abuses and haze pollution in the region. Meanwhile, with the
consensus-based approach, every member in fact has a veto and decisions are

usually reduced to the lowest common denominator. There has been a
widespread belief that ASEAN members should have a less rigid view on

these two cardinal principles when they wish to be seen as a cohesive and
relevant community.

ASEAN Summit

The organisation holds meetings, known as the ASEAN Summit, where
heads of government of each member meet to discuss and resolve regional

issues, as well as to conduct other meetings with other countries outside of
the bloc with the intention of promoting external relations.

The ASEAN Leaders’ Formal Summit was first held in Bali, Indonesia in

1976. Its third meeting was held in Manila in 1987 and during this meeting, it
was decided that the leaders would meet every five years. Consequently, the
fourth meeting was held in Singapore in 1992, where the leaders again agreed

to meet more frequently, deciding to hold the summit every three years. In
2001, it was decided to meet annually to address urgent issues affecting the
region. Member nations were assigned to be the summit host in alphabetical

order except in the case of Burma which dropped its 2006 hosting rights in
2004 due to pressure from the United States and the European Union.

By December 2008, the ASEAN Charter came into force and with it, the

ASEAN Summit will be held twice in a year.

The formal summit meets for three days. The usual itinerary is as follows:

Leaders of member states would hold an internal organisation meeting.