Timor-Leste out to prove cynics wrong as Asean membership nears
There is almost no latency in Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta's response when I ask him whether he was surprised that Asean leaders agreed for his country to formally join as the grouping's 11th member as early as its next meeting in October.
After all, it would have been perfectly understandable if the consensus had been that the country could do with a bit more time to fulfil outstanding conditions for accession, rather than fixing a provisional deadline that would inevitably come with pressure.
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