Over the next century， Southeast Asia was divided between the British， Dutch， Spanish， French， and later the Americans. Their rivalry was intense. No single colonial power dominated the whole region.
In the 20th century， the interests of big powers continued to intersect in Southeast Asia. In 1941， Imperial Japan invaded French Indochina. The US retaliated with an oil embargo on Japan. This was the immediate trigger for the Pacific War. On the same day that Japan bombed Pearl Harbour， they also attacked Malaya and Singapore. There followed for us the Japanese Occupation：three years and eight months of oppression， fear， and misery.
During the Cold War， Southeast Asia was again on the frontline. The region was split between communist and non－communist states. Vietnam
became the battlefield for a proxy war between the two camps. Meanwhile，China supported communist insurgencies and promoted armed revolution in the non－communist countries， including Malaysia and Singapore.
This was the backdrop when the five non－communist countries in Southeast Asia – Indonesia， Malaysia， the Philippines， Singapore and Thailand – came together to form ASEAN in 1967. It was a remarkable act of statesmanship. Several of the partners had a recent history of conflict with one another， and the wounds had yet to heal fully. But with ASEAN， the five countries eschewed conflict， and took the path of dialogue， cooperation and friendship. We integrated into the world economy， linked up with advanced countries， and thrived. Meanwhile， the communist countries in Indochina were held back for decades by successive wars and the rigidity of their command economies.
|
