As we usher in the Year of the Ox, Lunar New Year celebrations took an unprecedented, muted tone as governments worldwide continued restricting activities to combat the ongoing pandemic. In this month’s edition of ‘From the Hill’, we take a look at Southeast Asian nations continuing to cope with the crisis while balancing mounting social, political and economic pressures – both domestically and regionally.
Feature Topic
In South-east Asia, hopes brighten over US amid Covid gloom
Photo credit: Association of Southeast Asian Nations
In Southeast Asia, policymakers remain busy as ever in trying to balance social, political and economic activities with containing the coronavirus. Singapore and Vietnam made the difficult decisions to tighten or continue restrictions ahead of the Lunar New Year festivities while Malaysia is controversially relaxing its recently imposed emergency measures.
However, as the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar rises, the sun is setting on one of the world’s most interesting democratic transition projects in recent memory. After nearly a decade of opening up to the world and achieving unprecedented broad-based growth, the reality of having a quasi-civilian government sank in for Myanmar. With what appears to be a revert to the status quo in the country, policymakers have expressed differing views on the situation.
Unsurprisingly, the Biden-led US administration censured the Myanmar military’s move by calling for a reimposing of sanctions. Interestingly, China has also been vocal about the country’s continued instability; however, this should also come as little surprise. China’s border with Myanmar means that the country is key to its regional infrastructure ambitions, which may be disrupted if Myanmar returns to self-imposed isolation, making it difficult for China to foster the regional cooperation needed to facilitate its plans in Southeast Asia.
But what about Myanmar’s neighbours? Singapore expressed its grave concern towards the situation, whereas Malaysia and Indonesia are calling for a regional ASEAN meeting to deliberate the fallout, while strongmen-led neighbours Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand have noted Myanmar’s situation as being an internal affair, suggesting no intervention on their part.
The varying responses from Southeast Asia’s nations highlight the different levels of willingness to reinforce the cardinal, non-interventionist doctrine of the ASEAN charter – which observers have noted as being a longstanding impediment to closer regional integration. However, COVID-19 continues to rage on in Southeast Asia, so some countries in the region may likely prioritise the most pressing domestic matters before involving themselves with others. In any case, while combating the current healthcare crisis remains the top priority of most governments, politics will never be comfortable in taking a back seat.
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