MARIA ORTUOSTE: Strictly enforcing ambiguous criteria, coupled with the reality that it would probably take decades before Timor-Leste has enough officials to attend all ASEAN meetings, make it all but impossible for Timor-Leste to enter ASEAN.
Anthony Milner and Astanah Abdul Aziz: The fact that the Southeast Asian states (with the partial exception of Indonesia) are small in Asian terms is not a deterrent to ASEAN agency. It helps ASEAN to appear non-threatening;
As leading Thai analyst Kavi Chongkittavorn has pointed out, the ‘Plus Three’ element was also an ASEAN contribution to bridge-building between the large, mutually hostile states of Northeast Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea).
Such a shift in Northeast Asian sentiments could be a game-changer across the Asian region. At the least, more relaxed interstate relations in Northeast Asia—fostered, in part, by ASEAN—would provide a more favourable setting for the further development of ASEAN-led rules-based regional building.
