Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) is a peace treaty among Southeast Asian countries established by the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a geo-political and economic organisation of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia.

History

On 24 February 1976, the treaty was signed into force by the leaders of the original members of ASEAN.^[1] Other members acceded to it upon or before joining the bloc. It was amended on 15 December 1987 by a protocol to open the document for accession by states outside Southeast Asia,^[2] and again on 25 July 1998, to condition such accession on the consent of all member states.^[3] On 23 July 2001, the parties established the rules of procedure of the treaty's High Council, which was stipulated in Article 14 of the document.^[4] On 7 October 2003, during the annual summit, a declaration was released that says:^[5]

"A High Council of [the treaty] shall be the important component in the ASEAN Security Community since it reflects ASEAN's commitment to resolve all differences, disputes and conflicts peacefully."

Papua New Guinea was the first country outside ASEAN to sign the treaty in 1989. As of July 2009^[update], sixteen countries outside the bloc have acceded to the treaty. On 22 July 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the TAC on behalf of the United States.^[6] The European Union announced in 2009 its intention to accede as soon as the treaty would be amended to allow for the accession of non-states^[7][8][9] and joined accordingly on 12 July 2012.^[10]

The treaty has been endorsed by the General Assembly stating that:^[11]

"The purposes and principles of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and its provisions for the pacific settlement of regional disputes and for regional co-operation to achieve peace, amity and friendship among the peoples of Southeast Asia [are] in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

Principles

The purpose of the Treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and co-operation among the people of Southeast Asia which would contribute to their strength, solidarity, and closer relationship. In their relations with one another, the High Contracting Parties shall be guided by the following fundamental principles;^[12]

a. mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations,

b. the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion,

c. non-interference in the internal affairs of one another,

d. settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means,

e. renunciation of the threat or use of force, and

f. effective co-operation among themselves.

Parties

The following table lists the parties in the order of the dates on which they entered into the treaty:

No	Country	Date
1	Indonesia	24 February 1976
2	Malaysia
3	Philippines
4	Singapore
5	Thailand
6	Brunei	7 January 1984[13]
7	Papua New Guinea	6 July 1989[14]
8	Laos	29 June 1992[15]
9	Vietnam	22 July 1992[16]
10	Cambodia	23 January 1995[17]
11	Myanmar	27 July 1995[18]
12	China	8 October 2003[19][20]
13	India
14	Japan	2 July 2004[21][22]
15	Pakistan
16	South Korea	27 November 2004[23]
17	Russia	29 November 2004[24]
18	New Zealand	25 July 2005[25]
19	Mongolia	28 July 2005[26]
20	Australia	10 December 2005[27]
21	France	20 July 2006[28]
22	Timor-Leste	13 January 2007[29]
23	Bangladesh	1 August 2007[30][31]
24	Sri Lanka
25	North Korea	24 July 2008[32]
26	United States	23 July 2009[33]
27	Canada	23 July 2010[34][35]
28	Turkey
29	European Union	12 July 2012[10][36][37]
30	United Kingdom
31	Brazil	17 November 2012[38]
32	Norway	1 July 2013[39]
33	Chile	6 September 2016[40]
34	Egypt
35	Morocco
36	Argentina	1 August 2018[41][42]
37	Iran
38	Peru	31 July 2019[43]
39	Bahrain	2 November 2019[44]
40	Germany
41	Colombia	10 November 2020[45]
42	Cuba
43	South Africa
44	Denmark	3 August 2022[46]
45	Greece
46	Netherlands
47	Oman
48	Qatar
49	United Arab Emirates
50	Ukraine	10 November 2022[47]
51	Saudi Arabia	12 July 2023[48]
52	Kuwait	4 September 2023[49]
53	Panama
54	Serbia
55	Luxembourg	10 October 2024[50]

Even though Spain was recognized as a member of the treaty on 10 November 2022,^[51] they have yet to ratify their accession. Secretary of state at Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kung Phoak stated that Spain's efforts to join the treaty are moving slowly.^[52]