Timor-Leste out to prove cynics wrong as Asean membership nears
Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta arriving at the Shangri-La Singapore hotel on May 29, ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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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