Former top Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan yesterday dismissed claims that he is acting as an "agent" for a foreign power, following an attack by a group claiming to be made up of retired and active Cambodian envoys.
They were hitting back at Mr Kausikan over remarks he had made at a webinar last Friday, in which he observed that Cambodia and Laos are "teetering precariously on the edge" of entrusting their agency to an external power or trying to be passively neutral.
In an unsigned open letter published on Tuesday on Cambodian pro-government news website Fresh News Asia, whose owner openly supports China, they criticised his "barrage of misleading and flawed claims". They further said that some regional countries, including Singapore, "have provided military basing or leasing rights to external powers".
In response, Mr Kausikan said: "Being (as they pointed out) 'senile and forgetful', I cannot remember what this is about. But even my addled wits cannot take seriously an argument that contains the phrase 'Anyhow, back to the substance...'."
The former permanent secretary at Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs added: "What were they saying before? Nonsense? I cannot take this rubbish seriously."
During the webinar at the 35th Asean Roundtable organised by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute on Oct 23, he said that neutrality does not mean lying low and hoping for the best. True neutrality, he added, means "knowing your own interests, taking positions based on your own interests and not allowing others to define your interests for you by default".
During the roundtable, Mr Kausikan noted that Asean had for the first time failed to agree on a joint communique in 2012, because the then Cambodian foreign minister refused any compromise on the South China Sea issue. China has overlapping claims with several Asean members in the disputed waterway.
He also noted that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen later said supporting China was "Cambodia's political choice".
"We are an inter-state and not a supra-national organisation," said Mr Kausikan.
"No member is required to give up its sovereign right to define its national interests... What was at issue was whether Cambodia had in any degree taken the regional interest into account when making that political choice."
He also said Asean may have to "cut loose the two (Cambodia and Laos) to save the eight (other members)".
His remarks drew a sharp response from the writers, who said it is contradictory for Mr Kausikan to postulate that Asean is an inter-state and not a supra-national organisation, while at the same time promote the idea that some member states should be expelled.
They also criticised the institute as a platform for "wolf warriors" to push a narrative that Cambodia is China's vassal state.
Cambodia is viewed by international analysts to be one of Beijing's closest allies in South-east Asia. The term "wolf warrior" is often used to describe aggressive moves by Chinese envoys to defend Beijing's national interests.
The institute's deputy director Terence Chong told The Straits Times that as an independent research centre, it examines long-term trends and challenges facing the region. "To do so, we allow individual researchers and invited speakers the freedom to give their own views and insights based on their analysis of the issues at hand."
