The ASEAN Declaration or Bangkok Declaration is the founding document of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was signed in Bangkok on 8 August 1967 by the five

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, milita ...

founding members,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. It states the basic principles of ASEAN: co-operation, amity, and non-interference. The date is now celebrated as ASEAN Day. One theory suggest ASEAN was formed as a display of solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam and communist

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

within their own borders. However, there is nothing from ASEAN written that actually says this.

Surrounding issues

Communism

Prior to the declaration, the five Southeast Asian states struggled to contain communist influence. At the time, the Filipino government struggled to give amnesty to former

Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight into a rebellio ...

militants, who staged an armed conflict in Luzon during the 1950s that almost led to the collapse of the central government. Conflict between the Indonesian military and the increasing

Indonesian Communist Party The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965 ...

apparently come to an end in late 1965 with the transition to the dictatorship of Suharto's "New Order" after the horror of Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 being implemented.

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

also led to the idea of merging the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak,

, and North Borneo into one entity, which had the intention of eliminating the possibility of Singapore falling into communism. Singapore was expelled from the Federation in 1965 over racial tensions and how the federation should be governed, but remained a capitalist democratic society with close ties with its new neighbors.

Tensions between neighbours

A related matter was the formation of Malaysia. In 1961, Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman announced a proposal to create a new federation called Malaysia. This was opposed by Indonesia and the Philippines because Indonesia believed the new formation was a form of neo-colonialism while the Philippines claimed eastern North Borneo (Sabah) as part of its territory. To defuse tension, a non-political confederation called

Maphilindo Maphilindo (for Malaya, the Philippines, and Indonesia), is a proposed, nonpolitical confederation of the three Southeast Asian countries in the Malay Archipelago. Background The original plan for a united state based on the concept of ...

was formed. This, however, was not successful due to the perception that Maphilindo was formed to delay or prevent the formation of Malaysia. Despite opposition, Malaysia was formed in 1963. This led to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. The Philippines withdrew diplomatic ties, causing relations to remain sour until the formation of ASEAN. It is believed by scholars that the formation of ASEAN has prevented hostilities between

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

n states.The Genesis of Konfrontasi: Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia 1945-1965, Greg Poulgrain
/ref>

References

{{Cold War ASEAN laws Political charters Treaties concluded in 1967 Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Singapore Treaties of Malaysia Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Thailand 1967 documents August 1967 events in Asia

Surrounding issues

Communism

Tensions between neighbours

See also

References