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Type | Multilateral treaty |
---|---|
Signed | 8 August 1967 |
Location | Bangkok, Thailand |
Original signatories |
The ASEAN Declaration [1] or Bangkok Declaration is the founding document of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was signed in Bangkok on 8 August 1967 by the five ASEAN founding members, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
It states the basic principles of ASEAN: co-operation, amity, and non-interference. [2] The date is now celebrated as ASEAN Day. [3]
One theory suggest ASEAN was formed as a display of solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam and communist insurgency within their own borders. However, there is nothing from ASEAN written that actually says this.
Prior to the declaration, the five Southeast Asian states struggled to contain communist influence.
At the time, the Filipino government struggled to give amnesty to former Hukbalahap militants, who staged an armed conflict in Luzon during the 1950s that almost led to the collapse of the central government.
Conflict between the Indonesian military and the increasing Indonesian Communist Party apparently come to an end in late 1965 with the transition to the dictatorship of Suharto's "New Order" after the horror of Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 being implemented. [4]
Communism also led to the idea of merging the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak, Singapore, and North Borneo into one entity, which had the intention of eliminating the possibility of Singapore falling into communism. Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1965 over racial tensions and how the federation should be governed, but remained a capitalist democratic society with close ties with its new neighbors.
A related matter was the formation of Malaysia. In 1961, Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman announced a proposal to create a new federation called Malaysia. This was opposed by Indonesia and the Philippines because Indonesia believed the new formation was a form of neo-colonialism while the Philippines claimed eastern North Borneo (Sabah) as part of its territory.
To defuse tension, a non-political confederation called Maphilindo was formed. This, however, was not successful due to the perception that Maphilindo was formed to delay or prevent the formation of Malaysia.
Despite opposition, Malaysia was formed in 1963. This led to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. The Philippines withdrew diplomatic ties, causing relations to remain sour until the formation of ASEAN.
It is believed by scholars that the formation of ASEAN has prevented hostilities between Southeast Asian states. [5] [6]
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, with an area of 748,168 km2 (288,869 sq mi). At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda Islands, located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and north-west of mainland Australia which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. Mainland Southeast Asia is completely in the Northern Hemisphere. East Timor and the southern portion of Indonesia are the only parts of Southeast Asia that are south of the Equator.
ASEAN, officially an abbreviation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia. It has a population of over 600 million and covers an area of 4.5 million km2 (1.7 million sq mi). ASEAN generated a purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$10.2 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately 6.5% of global GDP (PPP).
The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the state of Malaysia from the Federation of Malaya. After Indonesian president Sukarno was deposed in 1966, the dispute ended peacefully.
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February 1955 at a meeting of treaty partners in Bangkok, Thailand. The organization's headquarters was also in Bangkok. Eight members joined the organization.
The North Kalimantan Communist Party was a communist political party based in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in northern Borneo. It was formally founded on 19 September 1971. Before that, the group had been operating under the name Sarawak People's Guerrillas. The chairman of the NKCP was Wen Ming Chyuan and the party enjoyed close links with the People's Republic of China. The NKCP's membership was predominantly ethnically Chinese. The two military formations of the NKCP were the Sarawak People's Guerilla Force (SPGF) or Pasukan Gerilya Rakyat Sarawak (PGRS), and the North Kalimantan People's Army (NKPA) or the Pasukan Rakyat Kalimantan Utara (PARAKU). The NKCP participated in the Sarawak Communist Insurgency (1962–1990). On 17 October 1990, the North Kalimantan Communist Party signed a peace agreement with the Sarawak state government, formally ending the Sarawak Communist Insurgency.
PAP–UMNO relations refers to the occasionally-turbulent relationship between the People's Action Party (PAP), the governing party of Singapore since 1959, and the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the leading party of the Barisan Nasional coalition which governed Malaysia from 1955 to 2018. The two parties' relationship has impacted Malaysia–Singapore relations given the countries' geographical proximity and close historical ties.
Maphilindo, is a proposed, nonpolitical confederation of the three Southeast Asian countries in the Malay Archipelago.
The North Borneo dispute, also known as the Sabah dispute, is the territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines over much of the eastern part of the state of Sabah. Sabah was previously known as North Borneo prior to the formation of the Malaysian federation.
The ASEAN Summit is a biannual meeting held by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in relation to economic, political, security, and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. In addition, it serves as a prominent regional (Asia) and international (worldwide) conference, with world leaders attending its related summits and meetings to discuss various problems and global issues, strengthening co-operation, and making decisions. The summit has been praised by world leaders for its success and ability to produce results on a global level.
Merdeka is a term in Indonesian and Malay which means "independent" or "free". It is derived from the Sanskrit maharddhika (महर्द्धिक) meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave. The term is also used in other Indonesian languages.
Singapore, officially the State of Singapore, was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. This marked the end of the 144-year British rule in Singapore which began with the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. At the time of merger, it was the smallest state in the country by land area, but the largest by population.
Greater Indonesia was a political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together by uniting the territories of Dutch East Indies with the British Malaya and British Borneo. It was espoused by students and graduates of Sultan Idris Training College for Malay Teachers in the late 1920s, and individuals from Sumatra and Java, including Mohammad Natsir and Sukarno, on September 28, 1950. Indonesia Raya was adopted as the name of what later became the Indonesian national anthem in 1924. While the definition of Greater Indonesia is consistent, the definition of Greater Malay and related concept of Malay world and realm are varied from the synonym of Greater Indonesia to Peninsular-focused dominance.
The Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) or the Bangkok Treaty of 1995, is a nuclear weapons moratorium treaty between 10 Southeast Asian member-states under the auspices of the ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It was opened for signature at the treaty conference in Bangkok, Thailand, on 15 December 1995 and it entered into force on March 28, 1997 and obliges its members not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons.
The History of Sarawak can be traced as far as 40,000 years ago to the paleolithic period where the earliest evidence of human settlement is found in the Niah caves. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the archeological site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century. In 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, first arrived in Sarawak. Sarawak was later governed by the Brooke family between 1841 and 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British. Following this, it became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia, and this led to the three-year Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. From 1960 to 1990, Sarawak experienced a communist insurgency.
Malaysia–Philippines relations refers to the bilateral relations between Malaysia and the Philippines. The Philippines has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Manila and a consulate general in Davao City. The people of the two neighbouring countries have a long history of cultural and political relations.
Eu Chooi Yip was a prominent member of the anti-colonial and Communist movements in Malaya and Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. Eu Chooi Yip was born in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Indonesia and Malaysia established diplomatic relations in 1957. It is one of the most important bilateral relationships in Southeast Asia.
ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) are selected protected areas in the ASEAN region that are known for their unique biodiversity and ecosystems, wilderness and outstanding values in scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational and tourism. Its vision is "An ASEAN region whose biological is conserved, sustainably managed and used, and equitably shared for the well-being of its peoples." The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) in the Philippines serves as the secretariat of the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme.
The Enlargement of the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations is the process of expanding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through the accession of new member states. This process began with ASEAN's five original members, who founded the association through the signing of the Bangkok Declaration in 1967. Since then, the ASEAN's membership has grown to ten with the accession of Cambodia in 1999.