A new dawn for Timor Leste and ASEAN

There are moments in our shared Asian journey that linger — echoes of hope, struggle, and reconciliation. One such moment now unfolds as Timor-Leste steps into full membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as its 11th member.

- JOSE DE VENECIA JR.

This milestone is deeply personal to us. Our friends President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao have long been companions in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation across Asia. We recall visiting Dili in 2012, when President Ramos-Horta welcomed us to a peace conference amid the charged atmosphere of post-election Timor-Leste. Despite the tension, there was hope — a people determined to move forward after years of hardship.

The forum, co-organized by Timor-Leste’s government, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), and the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), honored the Timorese model of peace and reconciliation and the indomitable spirit that carried them from colonial and occupation struggles to independence in 2002, after a 1999 UN-sponsored referendum where 78.5 percent voted for freedom. Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Belo’s 1996 Nobel Peace Prize remains a testament to that long and inspiring struggle.