Toward a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone

The topic of nuclear weapons emerged again in a number of discussions and negotiations in the preparation of the 19th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Nusa Dua, Bali. The topic had been suspended for almost 10 years.

The discussion of nuclear weapons in the ASEAN region first appeared at the gathering of foreign ministers of ASEAN member countries in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Nov. 27, 1971. According to the official website of ASEAN, the foreign ministers signed the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN). The ZOPFAN Declaration was a statement of political intent to be achieved by building national and regional resilience over the years following the establishment of ASEAN.

The ZOPFAN Declaration committed all the ASEAN Member Countries to “exert initially necessary efforts to secure the recognition of and respect for Southeast Asia as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality, free from any manner of interference by outside Powers.”

In 1987, the peace zone concept was discussed again in the third ASEAN summit in Manila, Philippines. At that time, ASEAN leaders signed a protocol amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). While welcoming the signing of the Treaty of the Elimination of Intermediate and Short-rage Nuclear Missiles by the U.S. and the then-USSR, the ASEAN leaders resolved to intensify efforts to translate both the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and the ZOPFAN into reality.

The negotiation then turned to the summit in Bangkok in December 1995. During the meeting, the heads of government from all 10 ASEAN member countries signed the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ). The treaty, which entered into force in 1997, was ASEAN’s major contribution to the progress toward a general and complete disarmament of nuclear weapons.

Security Guarantees

Entering the era of the 2000s, the effort to protect ASEAN from the dangers of nuclear weapons has been like “suspended animation.” One of the reasons is the rivalry between the ASEAN effort to protect itself and the strong resistance from nuclear states.

The director-general for ASEAN Cooperation and Indonesian minister of foreign affairs, Djauhari Oratmangun, mentioned on the sidelines of the ASEAN senior officials meeting in Nusa Dua that negative security assurances is still a matter of negotiation between two parties.

In the context of nuclear weapons, there are two security guarantees: negative security assurances and positive security assurances. Negative security assurances is a kind of commitment from nuclear states not to use nuclear weapons to attack countries without nuclear weapons. Positive security assurances is the intention of nuclear states to help non-nuclear weapon states which might become victims of the deadly assault weapons.

United States, Britain, France, Russia and China are the five countries that have nuclear weapons. The five countries are also the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and are bound to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to take precautions against the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons technology.

Until now, there has been no common agreement on negative security assurances. Each of the nuclear states has only made a unilateral promise to meet the negative security assurances. For example, the U.S. has promised not to attack non-nuclear weapon states.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the United States gave a promise to the UN in 1995 that it would not invade non-nuclear weapon countries.

The organization, based in the United States and once chaired by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, quoted a U.S. pledge document containing a number of exceptions. The document stated that the U.S. would not use nuclear weapons to attack non-nuclear weapon countries party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty unless there has been an attack on U.S. territory or troops, including an attack on U.S. allies or a country that has a security treaty with the United States.

The tug over negative assurances has become one of the prominent issues in the discussion of a nuclear weapons free zone in Southeast Asia.

Nevertheless, ASEAN member countries keep working on the issue because the UN Security Council has issued Resolution 984 which urges UN member countries to advance with negotiations in order to determine the benchmarks toward complete nuclear disarmament under the supervision of the international world.

After being hung for approximately 10 years, the issue of nuclear weapons was echoed again in Southeast Asia, this time from Jakarta.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, chairman of ASEAN in the 18th ASEAN summit in Jakarta in May 2011, said that ASEAN countries have agreed to encourage international efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. Thus, ASEAN leaders intend to establish cooperation with other nuclear-weapons free zones in order to implement the principles and objectives of an anti-nuclear arms treaty.

Yudhoyono also expressed the need for an action plan on the implementation of the treaty of a nuclear weapons free zone in Southeast Asia. His statement included the effort to continue the dialogue on outstanding issues with countries that possess nuclear weapons and to request that they immediately sign the protocols of a nuclear weapons free zone in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN chairman’s statement also included support for nuclear disarmament and the encouragement of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purpose.

A Challenge for Indonesia

Yudhoyono’s statement is a challenge for Indonesia as the host and chairman of ASEAN. To follow up on this, the initial agenda of the summit in Bali was designed to discuss the issue of nuclear weapons.

One of the items on the initial agenda was a meeting between the executive committee of SEANWFZ and representatives of the five nuclear weapon states, which are the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.

According to Oratmangun, the meeting between two parties has progressed, marked by the base document which was written this year after the negotiations had stalled over the past 10 years. Positive development toward the accession protocols of a nuclear weapons free zone of ASEAN is also characterized by the continuing of consultative meetings between both parties.

“We have met three times this year, including meetings in Geneva and New York,” said Oratmangun who is also chairman of the ASEAN high officials forum.

The director of the ASEAN Political and Security Cooperation, Ade Padmo Sarwono, said that the five nuclear weapon states should respect and support the process of accession of the protocol of a nuclear weapons free zone in Southeast Asia. He also mentioned that ASEAN would benefit from the discussion about the protocol of nuclear weapons free zones in the 66th UN General Assembly.

Aside from the nuclear weapons free zone, the meeting between ASEAN and nuclear weapons countries will also discuss the possibility of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a proposal on the Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty of Southeast Asia in the UN General Assembly.

Press releases from the Indonesian ministry of foreign affairs stated that Bali summit was designed to produce a number of declarations: the Declaration of the East Asia Summit on Principles of Mutually Beneficial Relations, the Declaration of the Sixth East Asia Summit on ASEAN Connectivity and the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the UN.

In addition, there will be a Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations. The declaration will contain a provision about nuclear weapons which supports the development of a region free of nuclear weapons and all kinds of weapons of mass destruction in the corridors of national and international law enforcement. The declaration will emphasize continuing consensus on outstanding issues related to the nuclear weapons free zone treaty of ASEAN and pursuing ratification from nuclear countries. ASEAN will also develop a coordinated approach and contribute to the improvement of nuclear safety.

Implementing a nuclear weapons free zone is a tough task, especially for Indonesia as the chair of ASEAN. This task has layered challenges. At present — at the first layer — ASEAN countries struggle to get the five nuclear weapons states to participate in the Southeast Asia nuclear weapons free zone. If the first layer is successfully accomplished, ASEAN should not lose its awareness in dealing with the troublesome second layer, which is the existence of countries suspected of having nuclear weapons, such as India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. Those countries are not bound by any agreement, so they can “move” very freely.