12/21/2025
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒโ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ
On Sunday, 21 December, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated on social media that he had spoken with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin to exchange views through ASEAN-led mechanisms and explore ways to reduce escalating tensions, in line with the ASEAN Charter and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). He emphasized that dialogue and mutual respect remain the only sustainable path to restoring peace and stability in the region, warningโduring a separate conversation with Vietnamโs prime ministerโthat Southeast Asia cannot afford a prolonged conflict that hardens positions and risks becoming permanent.
Anwarโs message was loud and clear that the upcoming ASEAN Foreign Ministersโ Special Meeting is not routine diplomacy, but an urgent response to a crisis unfolding within a community that claims shared identity and collective responsibility. In his meaning, this is not merely a bilateral dispute; it is a crisis of the ASEAN Community itself, testing whether the organizationโs foundational promise of One Vision, One Identity, One Community still carries operational meaning.
Pressure from outside the region has already intensified. On 18 December, the White House announced that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had urged Thailandโs foreign minister to take firm steps to prevent further escalation and return to compliance with the Kuala Lumpur Peace Agreement. Shortly before that, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate telephone calls with the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand, confirming that both sides had expressed a willingness to de-escalate and consider a ceasefire. While emphasizing neutrality, China has dispatched special envoys to both capitals and has continued to urge ASEAN to play a central mediating role.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministersโ Special Meeting, scheduled for 22 December after being postponed from 16 December at Thailandโs request, carries profound significance. For Cambodian people, it represents their strongest hope for an end to a war they never choose. For both the United States and China, it is a critical moment for ASEAN to move beyond traditional restraint and demonstrate leadership by taking concrete, ASEAN-led action to bring the parties back to the Kuala Lumpur framework.
๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
This conflict exposes more than a security breakdown; it reveals a credibility crisis for ASEAN and a direct challenge to ASEAN centrality. Prolonged violence between member states, large-scale civilian displacement, cross-border military operations, and damage to cultural and heritage sites all undermine confidence in ASEANโs ability to uphold its own Charter and legal commitments.
If ASEAN cannot manage conflict among its own members, its relevance as the central platform for regional peace and security will inevitably be questionedโnot only by major powers, but by its own citizens. ASEAN centrality cannot be asserted rhetorically while external actors take the lead in crisis management. It must be demonstrated through action.
๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐
To restore credibility, ASEAN must formally activate its mediator roleโnot as a voluntary or ad hoc initiative, but as a collective responsibility of the entire community.
Mediation must be firmly anchored in ASEANโs existing legal and institutional frameworks, particularly the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, the ASEAN Charter. The ASEAN Observation Team and Interim Observation Team mechanisms should focus on concrete outcomes including an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians, credible monitoring arrangements, and a return to legally grounded negotiations.
ASEAN should also consider deploying ready-to-deploy ASEAN military force under the very inactive framework of ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network to support de-escalation and confidence-building on the ground.
Crucially, mediation must involve all ASEAN member states, not only those who volunteer or currently hold the chair. Collective ownership is essential to preserve ASEAN centrality. While coordination with external partners such as the United States and China is unavoidable, ASEAN must remain the primary driver of the processโnot a passive recipient of great-power diplomacy.
In moments of open conflict, excessive reliance on consensus risks paralysis. Consensus cannot be demanded under fire. What this situation requires is principled leadershipโguided by ASEANโs own rules, yet willing to act decisively to uphold them.
๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
The ASEAN Foreign Ministersโ Special Meeting on 22 December is therefore not about symbolism. It is about whether ASEAN is prepared to turn principle into practiceโby delivering a genuine ceasefire, credible monitoring, and a return to negotiations.
If ASEAN continues to rely on silence and procedural caution while peace erodes, it risks betraying the vision of its founders who envisioned ASEAN as a community grounded in international law, mutual sovereignty, and shared responsibility for regional stability. On 22 December, ASEAN member states face a clear choice in demonstrating that ASEAN can act when it matters, or allow the resolution of conflicts within its own house to drift beyond its reach.
History will not remember how carefully ASEAN spoke. It will remember whether ASEAN acted when peace in its own community was at stake.
