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Malay Mail
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Back channel diplomacy is a strategic must in Asean — Phar Kim Beng
JULY 15 — In the highly fluid and dynamic diplomatic environment of Southeast Asia, back-channel diplomacy is not merely an option — it is a strategic necessity. While Asean may appear ritualistic and indecisive on the surface, beneath that calm exterior lies a quiet but firm will not to acquiesce. When issues are too politically combustible or diplomatically delicate to be addressed in formal settings, Asean turns to a different toolkit — one built on discretion, trust, and personal rapport. This is not weakness. It is survival through subtlety. The quiet refusal to accept the unacceptable Asean is often criticized for being too slow, too soft, or too silent. But this criticism stems from a misreading of its behaviour. What looks like passivity is often a calculated refusal to escalate, provoke, or humiliate. Asean's silence in the face of provocation is not always surrender; it is sometimes the only viable way to keep lines of communication open when more forceful approaches would slam them shut. This is where back-channel diplomacy comes into play. It allows Asean states to convey their discontent, concerns, or proposals discreetly. It enables dialogue when formal avenues are blocked. It also enables member states to preserve unity even when they disagree internally. The real work of diplomacy, in such moments, happens far from microphones and cameras. Myanmar: The case for quiet tenacity One of the most pressing examples is Myanmar. Since the 2021 military coup, Asean's formal mechanisms have struggled to engage the junta meaningfully. Public commitments have been ignored or undermined and attempts to dispatch envoys have met roadblocks. Yet the crisis continues to affect the credibility of the region — and the lives of millions. In such a scenario, back-channel diplomacy is not just helpful — it is indispensable. Regional actors have engaged the regime not through loud pronouncements but through quiet visits, confidential dialogues, and the use of respected intermediaries. This includes religious leaders, retired generals, and former diplomats who, while not speaking officially, carry enough stature to be taken seriously. These unofficial engagements are often the only way to negotiate humanitarian access, facilitate de-escalation, or push for incremental confidence-building. When no one else can talk, someone must still listen — and nudge. The value of personal trust networks What enables these efforts to function is not institutional power but personal trust. Southeast Asia has long operated on the strength of relationships: old classmates in government, retired military officers with transnational bonds, scholars who are quietly respected across borders. These relationships become the scaffolding upon which back-channel diplomacy is built. They allow officials — active or retired — to float ideas informally, share warnings discreetly, and explore compromise without political cost. If a proposal fails, it vanishes with no public embarrassment. If it works, it can be elevated to the formal track with minimum friction. This diplomatic informality is not a sign of disorganization. On the contrary, it reflects a high degree of regional maturity — an understanding that trust, not treaties, is often what prevents conflict. Asean is often criticized for being too slow, too soft, or too silent. But this criticism stems from a misreading of its behaviour. What looks like passivity is often a calculated refusal to escalate, provoke, or humiliate. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Back channel diplomacy in a region of shifting standards Back-channel diplomacy becomes even more critical at a time when the return of great power competition is accompanied by a troubling duality: one standard for the powerful, and another for everyone else. When rules-based international order is selectively applied — or outright ignored — Asean cannot afford to rely solely on formal mechanisms that move too slowly for fast-unfolding crises. In the absence of credible enforcement of international norms, and with the law of the jungle gaining preponderance, Asean must quietly but consistently find ways to de-escalate tensions, protect its cohesion, and preserve regional autonomy. One recent cautionary tale, however, reminds us that while back-channel diplomacy is necessary, it must also be conducted with care and supervision. The leaked phone call between then–Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, though unofficial in nature, inadvertently exposed the risks of personal, unstructured communications between senior officials. Yet despite the fallout, the issue at hand — the closure of transnational cybercrime hubs straddling the Thai Cambodian border — was and remains a legitimate diplomatic concern. These cybercrime centres, reportedly targeted for shutdown by Chinese authorities, had grown into entrenched organized networks. When Thailand acted to close border crossings, organized criminal interests in Cambodia were affected, triggering both diplomatic unease and operational confusion. It is precisely in such moments — when sovereign decisions clash with transnational pressures — that Asean needs discreet dialogue, not diplomatic posturing. Back-channel diplomacy must not occur in a vacuum. It requires structure, oversight, and credible interlocutors — what might be called policy sherpas — to navigate sensitive files before they escalate. Whether they operate through Track 1.5 dialogues, Track 2 consultations, or confidential political envoys, these sherpas can help test solutions, clear misunderstandings, and build pathways for official action. Asean needs more of them, not fewer. Informality is Asean's quiet instrument of agency In a region as politically diverse and historically fragmented as Southeast Asia, formal diplomacy is often constrained by divergent national interests. What can't be said officially still needs to be communicated. Back-channel diplomacy provides that space. It gives Asean the room to manoeuvre, to clarify misunderstandings, and to avoid unintended escalation. This informal diplomacy also serves another critical function: it prevents external actors from monopolizing the regional narrative. In a world where external powers routinely seek to divide Asean for their own strategic ends, back-channel engagements among member states help ensure a minimum baseline of unity and coordination — even if it remains invisible to outsiders. Rethinking what success looks like Western observers often measure diplomatic success by visible breakthroughs: peace treaties, televised summits, signed declarations. But in Asean's context, success is sometimes best measured by what doesn't happen: crises that don't escalate, provocations that don't trigger retaliation, and situations that don't spiral out of control. Back-channel diplomacy contributes directly to this kind of quiet stability. It prevents issues from hardening into stalemates. It allows countries to test each other's intentions without making irreversible moves. And it provides an escape route from the paralysis of unanimity when formal consensus is elusive. Conclusion: The strength of stillness Asean's style may be quiet, but it is not dormant. Its preference for back-channel diplomacy is neither accidental nor incidental. It is a reflection of the region's hard-won understanding of what works — and what doesn't — in a complex geopolitical theatre. To mistake silence for inaction is to misread the language of diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Back-channel diplomacy is not a retreat. It is a recalibration. It is a way of navigating constraints, preserving unity, and preventing collapse without spectacle. In the end, diplomacy is about outcomes, not optics. And in that quiet corner where official scripts cannot go, Asean's strength lies in its ability to whisper when the world expects it to shout. * Phar Kim Beng is a professor of Asean Studies and Director of the Institute of Internationalization and Asean Studies at the International Islamic University of Malaysia ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
Irish Times
13-07-2025
- Irish Times
‘I thought the rebels were going to kill me. Then I saw my younger brother was among them'
The soldier was hungry and strung out on meth. Rebel fighters were attacking his base, just as a military helicopter had dropped food and ammunition for his battalion. After one package landed outside the garrison walls, he was ordered to go retrieve it. However, the rebels got there first and seized the soldier, Cpl Thein Htay Aung of the Myanmar army, and four others with him, along with rice, instant noodles, cigarettes and bullets. Their hands tied, the prisoners were marched to the rebel camp. The corporal expected the worst. Instead, he was shocked to see his little brother standing among the rebels. 'I thought they were going to kill me right there on the road,' Thein (38) said after his capture in February. 'But when I saw my younger brother, I felt a huge sense of relief. I suddenly felt so happy, because I wasn't going to die after all.' READ MORE In a video of the brothers taken that day, the corporal's hands are still tied, and he appears dazed by his sudden change in circumstances. His brother, Ko Tike Moung (30), a rebel fighter, drapes his arm over him and beams with joy. He does the talking. 'Meeting like this makes me happy but also sad,' he said. 'Still, it's fortunate that we're both alive and we can talk to each other like this.' For more than four years, a brutal civil war has consumed Myanmar, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions. The conflict, set off by a military coup, has torn apart many families with combatants on both sides. But it is rare for brothers to come face to face amid the fighting. Thein was captured by the Danu People's Liberation Army. Its founder and commander, Tun Tun Naing, recognised the panic on the corporal's face as he reached the rebel camp. 'Our soldier's brother was shaking with fear, worried that we might harm him,' he said. 'This is because in their army, prisoners of war are usually executed, so they assume we will do the same. But we don't treat prisoners of war that way.' Despite lacking a central command, resistance forces have seized large stretches of territory, overrun numerous military bases and taken tens of thousands of junta prisoners. They say they treat captives humanely, as laid out by the Geneva conventions. Though there have been reports of rebels executing POWs, defectors from the military say the junta does so far more commonly. Myanmar soldiers take part in a parade to mark the country's Armed Forces Day. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Forced to Enlist Thein, the third of six children and the older of two boys, never wanted to be a soldier. His father died when he was young. His mother made a living selling fruits and vegetables in the town of Budalin in central Myanmar. Thein left school after the fourth grade. His brother, Tike, the youngest sibling, made it through the eighth grade. When Thein was 18, he stayed out late one night. Soldiers grabbed him off the street, threw him into a truck and drove him to a military camp 80 miles away. There, they forced him to enlist. He deserted twice, he said, but was recaptured both times, spending a total of a year in prison, where he was beaten and kicked as punishment. He was frequently ordered into combat against armed ethnic groups the military has long fought and kept looking for a chance to surrender without being killed. [ In war-torn nations, Trump's travel ban brings a new hardship Opens in new window ] Trained to fire artillery, he was transferred to a base in Shan state in the territory of the Danu people, one of Myanmar's smallest ethnic groups. On top of his combat duties, he was given the smelly job of tending to the pigs his unit raised for food. Ultimately, he spent 20 years – his entire adult life – in the army. 'I was never happy in the military,' he said by phone from the prison camp where he has been held since his capture. State soldiers and police in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Photograph: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty When Thein was first taken by the military, his mother, Shwe Mi, and siblings searched for him. Three years passed before they received a letter from him saying he had been forcibly conscripted and was stationed at a base in the town of Naung Cho. A few years later, his mother and the two youngest siblings moved there to be close to him. Tike was about 15. Thein started sending them money every month. Then in 2021, the military, which has ruled Myanmar for most of its postcolonial history, seized power back from a newly elected civilian government that had won in a landslide. News of the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar newspapers. Photograph: Aung Kyaw Htet/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Millions took to the streets in protest , and millions more joined a nationwide civil disobedience movement that crippled government institutions and disrupted the economy. Tike joined the protests and begged his brother to desert the army and join, too. Their mother also urged him to switch sides. But Thein refused. The brothers didn't speak again. The monthly payments stopped. After the military crushed peaceful demonstrations by killing hundreds of protesters, many opponents of the regime fled to the countryside and joined armed groups. Clashes between junta troops and rebel forces erupted in many parts of the country, including Shan state. Anti-coup protesters flee from military forces during a demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2021. Photograph: AP Tike, his mother and youngest sister fled from village to village to escape the fighting. In 2022, he enlisted in the newly formed Danu People's Liberation Army, one of about 500 rebel groups fighting to overthrow the regime. Before Tike left home, his mother told him, 'If you ever meet your brother in battle, do what you must.' High on meth In Naung Cho, not far from the Danu rebels' camp, Thein was stationed at Artillery Command Headquarters 902. Since September, the base has largely been cut off by resistance forces, making delivery of supplies by road risky. Military helicopters airdrop food and ammunition, but supplies often land outside the base, creating opportunities for the rebels. [ In Myanmar, accounts of disappearances create climate of fear Opens in new window ] The rebels got one such opening in early February. They were attacking the garrison when Thein and four other soldiers were sent to retrieve the parcel just outside the garrison's wall. Not realising how near the rebel fighters were, the soldiers ventured out without weapons and were seized by Danu guerrillas. That day, Thein said, he was high on meth, as he was most of his time in the army. Meth was plentiful in the military, he said. Senior officers regularly sold soldiers meth tablets, known as yaba ('crazy medicine' in Thai), or 'WY' after the lettering on the pills. Before a battle, officers would hand them out free. It helped turn the soldiers into ruthless killing machines. 'When we use yaba, we lose our sense of awareness and just follow orders without question,' Thein said. 'Even when people were dying right in front of me in battle, I didn't feel fear. I just pushed forward over the dead bodies and kept fighting. Looking back now, it's terrifying. It's clear that I wasn't in a normal mental state.' 'How Is Mother?' Tike didn't know that his brother had been captured until the prisoners were brought into camp. After their reunion, he helped treat superficial wounds Thein had sustained. 'Even though he's an enemy soldier,' Tike said, 'he's still my brother.' At the time, Thein had few words for him. 'When we reunited, I asked him about his army, but he didn't say anything,' Tike said. 'He only asked, 'How is Mother?'' But having now spent time among the rebels, Thein respects his little brother's decision. 'He made the right choice in joining the resistance,' Thein said. He is one of about 40 prisoners of war being held at a former military base the rebels captured in September. Some captives have joined the Danu army to fight against the junta, the rebel commander said. Myanmar's military retook power from a newly elected civilian government on February 1st, 2021. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Thein, who remains a captive, said his living conditions are much better now. He is housed in a brick building and required to work about three hours a day tending aubergines, mustard greens, roselle and cabbage. The prisoners take turns cooking for themselves. 'Here, they feed us properly, just like they eat, so I'm eating well now,' he said. 'In the army, there were days when we only ate if the officers had leftovers. Sometimes we didn't eat at all.' His 72-year-old mother has come to visit twice, and the camp doctor has been helping him overcome his meth addiction. 'I no longer use meth, but I'm experiencing extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances and anxiety,' Thein said. 'The worst part is feeling emotionally flat and being unable to sleep.' Many of his former comrades in the army want to surrender, he said. They fear death, even though the military trains soldiers to believe that dying in battle is noble. 'My wish to surrender has come true,' Thein said. 'I never wanted to be a soldier. I feel ashamed of ever having been one.' – This article originally appeared in The New York Times . 2025 The New York Times Company
Al Arabiya
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Hundreds of Myanmar troops, civilians flee across Thai border
More than 500 civilians and soldiers fled conflict in Myanmar and crossed into Thailand on Saturday after an assault by ethnic fighters on a military base, the Thai army said. Myanmar has been mired in civil conflict since a military coup in 2021, with the junta battling a coalition of ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces. Saturday's attack by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) targeted a military base in Kayin state at around 3 pm local time (0800 GMT), Thailand's military said in a statement. 'The Myanmar soldiers attempted to resist and called for supporting firepower to defend their position but were ultimately unable to hold the line,' it said. One hundred Myanmar soldiers and 467 civilians had crossed into Thailand on Saturday, where Thai military and police disarmed them and provided treatment and humanitarian aid, officials said. Thai forces have ramped up patrols along the border in western Tak province to prevent what officials described as a potential 'violation of sovereignty by foreign armed forces.' Saw Thamain Tun, a leader of the KNLA's political wing, confirmed there had been fighting near the border and said that joint forces had 'seized some front posts' from the army. 'Some (Myanmar troops) defected to our joint forces, but some of them ran into Thailand,' he told AFP. Armed groups from the Karen ethnic minority have long challenged the military and now play a key role in resisting junta control over border zones. Myanmar's civil war has caused huge waves of population displacement, with 81,000 refugees or asylum seekers from the country currently living in Thailand, according to United Nations figures. The KNLA has been fighting for decades to establish greater autonomy for the Karen people living along Myanmar's southeastern flank.
South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Thailand sees border influx as hundreds of Myanmar troops, civilians flee army base assault
More than 500 civilians and soldiers fled conflict in Myanmar and crossed into Thailand on Saturday after an assault by ethnic fighters on a military base, the Thai army said. Myanmar has been mired in civil conflict since a military coup in 2021, with the junta battling a coalition of ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces. Saturday's attack by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) targeted a military base in Kayin state at around 3pm local time, Thailand's military said in a statement. 'The Myanmar soldiers attempted to resist and called for supporting firepower to defend their position, but were ultimately unable to hold the line,' it said. One hundred Myanmar soldiers and 467 civilians had crossed into Thailand on Saturday, where Thai military and police disarmed them and provided treatment and humanitarian aid, officials said. Thai forces have ramped up patrols along the border in western Tak province to prevent what officials described as a potential 'violation of sovereignty by foreign armed forces'.
Malay Mail
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Over 500 Myanmar soldiers, civilians flee into Thailand after assault by ethnic fighters on military base
BANGKOK, July 12 — More than 500 civilians and soldiers fled conflict in Myanmar and crossed into Thailand on Saturday after an assault by ethnic fighters on a military base, the Thai army said. Myanmar has been mired in civil conflict since a military coup in 2021, with the junta battling a coalition of ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance forces. Saturday's attack by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) targeted a military base in Kayin state at around 3pm local time (4pm Malaysian time), Thailand's military said in a statement. 'The Myanmar soldiers attempted to resist and called for supporting firepower to defend their position but were ultimately unable to hold the line,' it said. One hundred Myanmar soldiers and 467 civilians had crossed into Thailand on Saturday, where Thai military and police disarmed them and provided treatment and humanitarian aid, officials said. Thai forces have ramped up patrols along the border in western Tak province to prevent what officials described as a potential 'violation of sovereignty by foreign armed forces'. Saw Thamain Tun, a leader of the KNLA's political wing, confirmed there had been fighting near the border and said that joint forces had 'seized some front posts' from the army. 'Some (Myanmar troops) defected to our joint forces, but some of them ran into Thailand,' he told AFP. Armed groups from the Karen ethnic minority have long challenged the military and now play a key role in resisting junta control over border zones. Myanmar's civil war has caused huge waves of population displacement, with 81,000 refugees or asylum seekers from the country currently living in Thailand, according to United Nations figures. The KNLA has been fighting for decades to establish greater autonomy for the Karen people living along Myanmar's southeastern flank. — AFP
