If ASEAN cannot pull Myanmar in line, how can it progress?

Democracy remains tough goal, as Southeast Asian bloc faces existential risk

ASEAN wants Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military, right, to allow ousted democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi to meet with a representative from the bloc. (Nikkei montage/Shinya Sawai/Ken Kobayashi/Reuters)

TORU TAKAHASHI, Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Headquarters for Asia

November 11, 2021 11:57 JST

BANGKOK -- For the first time in 45 years, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations did not turn up for the bloc's annual summit in late October. The meeting convened online due to the pandemic but Myanmar's absence was marked simply by a banner stating the country's name.