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Asean cannot drift on autopilot
Tariffs and the eruption of conflict between Thailand and Cambodia have been wake-up calls.
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Asean must focus on key challenges where action is urgently needed, says the writer.
PHOTO: AFP
Simon Tay
Criticisms about Asean, the regional grouping of South-east Asian states, are perennial but two have resurfaced recently.
First, US President Donald Trump has reignited global trade turbulence with a new round of tariffs. Rather than acting collectively, Asean members scrambled to strike individual deals, undercutting the grouping’s claim to be an integrated economic community.
