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When the red, black and yellow flag of East Timor was hoisted alongside the colours of its new Southeast Asian peers inside the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Sunday, several Timorese journalists in the media gallery broke into tears. After more than a decade of waiting since it first applied in 2011, the small half-island nation – Asia’s newest country – on Sunday formally joined Asean as its 11th member. The ceremony at the 47th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, hosted by Malaysia where leaders gathered to discuss trade, regional security and how to keep the bloc united amid intensifying power rivalries between China and the United States, fulfils a burning ambition for the country to find belonging inside a wider regional community. “For us, this is history,” Andre Paulo, a local East Timor broadcaster, told This Week in Asia. “We waited so long to stand with the other nations in this region. It’s a victory for our people.” Video of the media contingent from his country wiping away their tears went viral on social media, while East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao gave a moving acceptance speech. Known officially as Timor-Leste, East Timor became the first new member to join Asean since Cambodia in 1999. Once a Portuguese colony, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and only regained independence in 2002 under United Nations supervision after a brutal occupation that left around 100,000 dead and the economy in ruins. A long rebuild has been under way since. President Jose Ramos-Horta, who attended Sunday’s ceremony, had long championed the idea of Asean membership. He first raised it in the 1970s as part of his vision to secure the young nation’s future through regional integration. Ramos-Horta, 75, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his efforts to end the conflict with Indonesia. Home to just 1.4 million people, East Timor’s economy – worth about US$2 billion – still depends heavily on its dwindling offshore oil and gas reserves. Gusmao told fellow leaders that the country’s long-awaited accession brings “immense opportunities in trade, investment, education and the digital economy”. “For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realised, but a powerful affirmation of our journey – one marked by resilience, determination and hope,” he said in his address. “For Asean, it is the continuation of a vision: a truly united family of nations bound together by shared values and common aspirations.” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Dili’s inclusion “completes the Asean family”. “Within this community, Timor-Leste’s development and its strategic autonomy will find firm and lasting support,” Anwar said.
