Of 109
invitations sent out for the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference,
only 57 countries have RSVP’ed
Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, Apr 14, 2015
 |
| A declaration on Palestinian statehood is among three documents expected to be signed by heads of state or government at the end of the Asian-African conference. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta) |
Jakarta.
Observers have high hopes that the upcoming 60th anniversary commemorations of
the Asian-African Conference in Jakarta and Bandung can produce significant
outcomes — ranging from a concrete road map for an independent Palestine, to a
higher geopolitical stature for countries from the two continents.
Teuku
Rezasyah, the executive director of the Indonesian Center for Democracy,
Diplomacy and Defense, said on Monday that he believed the high-profile
commemoration would be more than just a series of ceremonies.
“It will
have substance. If Palestine is indeed on the agenda, the commemoration will be
substantial, because Palestine is the only participant from the 1955
Asian-African Conference that has still not yet gained independence,” said Rezasyah,
who is also an international relations lecturer at Padjajaran University in
Bandung, where the historic conference was held in 1955.
A
declaration on Palestinian statehood is among three documents expected to be
signed by heads of state or government at the end of the 60th anniversary
commemoration of the conference, which kicks off this Sunday in Jakarta with a
meeting of senior officials from participating countries.
The
Asian-African Summit, which will feature heads of state and government, is
scheduled for April 22-23 at the Jakarta Convention Center, while a ceremony to
commemorate the 1955 conference will take place in Bandung the following day,
and will include a walk by the leaders down Jalan Asia Afrika in the West Java
capital, retracing a similar procession by the leaders of 60 years ago.
The
anniversary conference is also expected to conclude with two other
declarations: the Bandung Message and the Declaration of Reinvigorating the New
Asian-African Strategic Partnership. Both are expected to redefine and bolster
the relationships and partnerships between Asian and African nations.
Indonesian
Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi said in Jakarta last week that the three
documents had been intensively discussed by AAC representatives in New York.
“The
deliberations in New York are 70 percent complete. The target is [that by the
time of the summit] in Jakarta they will be 80 percent complete, and then they
will be discussed at the head-of-state level,” Retno said as quoted by CNN
Indonesia.
Rezasyah
said that although the pro-Palestinian independence cause kept failing at
larger international forums, including the United Nations, he believed the
meetings in Jakarta and Bandung next week would reinvigorate the cause.
“The
Asian-African Summit gives the participants more liberty [to openly express
their support for Palestine]. The five countries that hold veto power [in the
UN Security Council] won’t be in attendance, except for China. And China will
definitely support [Palestinian independence],” he said.
Rezasyah
also said he expected the conference to conclude with strong calls for changes
or additions to the permanent membership of the UN Security Council, held by
the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain.
“Those five
countries do not equally represent global citizens by population, geography or
politics,” Rezasyah said. “The [conference] should conclude with proposals for
new permanent members of the UN Security Council.”
He said
Indonesia could make a strong case for a permanent seat on council,
representing Southeast Asia; Australia could represent the Australasian region;
and either Egypt or Algeria could represent the Middle East and Africa.
“The
proposals can be included in a joint communique that will be read out on the
last day [of the conference],” Rezasyah said.
Hikmahanto
Juwana, a professor of international law at the University of Indonesia, said
conference participants should stick to three key issues if they wanted the
event to carry any weight internationally.
“First,
they should discuss how Asian and African nations should bring color to the
existing universal values,” he said.
“The
so-called universal values we’ve had this whole time are influenced exclusively
by European states or other nations that carry European traditions, such as the
United States. In the past, there were attempts to promote Asian values, but
they didn’t work. We can try now with Asian and African values.”
Second,
Hikmahanto said, Asian and African nations must proclaim their rejection of
developed nations’ intervention through economic dependency.
“Many Asian
and African states are bound by dependency in the economic sector. [Developed
nations] intervene with other countries’ sovereignty — including Indonesia’s —
through loans or grants,” he said.
“This isn’t
forced intervention, but intervention caused by dependency. This issue must be
addressed.”
Third, the
Asian and African leaders must discuss how to tackle crises currently
afflicting their parts of the world, such as the militant uprisings of Boko
Haram in West Africa and Al Shabaab in East Africa, Hikmahanto said.
Rezasyah
said this was an important point, given past experiences that showed how
intervention by the United States and Europe in conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan had left behind destruction in those two nations and destabilized
the Middle East.
Hikmahanto
expressed doubt, though, that the conference would carry any weight if the
number of heads of state or government confirmed to attend remained as low as
reported.
Retno said
last Friday said only around 25 foreign leaders had confirmed their attendance.
The number of countries sending a delegation currently stands at 57, out of the
109 invited.
Among those
confirmed to attend are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe said at
a meeting in Tokyo on Monday that Japan would use the conference to make
further contributions to the development of Asia and Africa, according to the
Japan Times.
The
newspaper also said Abe would deliver a speech on April 22, which, coming on
the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, is expected to convey Japan’s
remorse over its actions in the war and explain the country’s postwar path as a
pacifist nation.
Xi’s
attendance, meanwhile, is meant to show that the Chinese government intends to
contribute directly to maintaining the spirit of the 10-point “declaration on
promotion of world peace and cooperation” produced at the end of the 1955
conference, according to Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia.
“China and
Indonesia are friends. Moreover, the Bandung Spirit can bring a new chapter in
Asia and Africa’s relations,” Xie was quoted as saying in Jakarta last week by
the official website of the AAC Commemorations 2015.
Indonesian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said 18 foreign leaders were
seeking bilateral meetings with President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the
event, including Xi, Abe and leaders from Myanmar, Iran, Palestine, Vietnam,
Jordan, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The 60th
anniversary commemoration of the Bandung conference will also feature a host of
other events on the sidelines, including the Asian-African Business Summit in
Jakarta, as well as a “smart city” summit, a student conference, and a
carnival, all in Bandung.
Nearly
10,000 police personnel will be dispatched to provide security during the
series of events.
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