Timor Leste’s application had always faced challenges from Singapore, which has argued that the country would hinder ASEAN’s moves toward a regional community by 2015. Singapore’s objections to Timor Leste’s membership request are based largely on the development gap between the country and ASEAN member states overall, which it fears would make the region’s economic integration by 2015 more difficult.
However, during the foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday, foreign ministers from Cambodia and Malaysia directly questioned Singapore’s insistence on rejecting Timor Leste’s bid, saying that they supported the renewed application and there was no reason not to review it based on the declaration. Full story
