Conflict over Natural Resources in South-East Asia and the Pacific (UNU, 1990, 256 pages): 2. Conflict over land-based natural resources in the ASEAN countries: 2.2 The historical roots of conflict

Conflict over Natural Resources in South-East Asia and the Pacific (UNU, 1990, 256 pages)

Acknowledgements

Notes on contributors

1. Introduction

(introductory text...)

1.1 Commonalities and directions for future research

References

2. Conflict over land-based natural resources in the ASEAN countries

(introductory text...)

2.1 The ASEAN region: great wealth and great strife

2.2 The historical roots of conflict

2.3 The plunder of forest resources

2.4 The transformation of a natural resource: from agriculture to agribusiness

2.5 Conflicts over mineral resources

2.6 Development and tribal peoples: resistance to displacement

2.7 Natural resource abuses: a time for change

References

3. The Japanese economy and South-East Asia: the examples of the Asahan aluminium and Kawasaki Steel Projects

(introductory text...)

3.1 The Japanese miracle

3.2 Eyed of the miracle?

3.3 A new vision of economic: development

3.4 The vision in action: Asahan

3.5 Japan's overseas steel industry

3.6 Kawasaki in Mindanao: the export of pollution

3.7 Conclusion: the comprehensive security system - What price?

References

4. International conflict over marine resources in South-East Asia: trends in politicization and militarization

(introductory text...)

4.1 Present and future conflict over marine resources

4.2 Common threads in the pattern of conflict

4.3 Conflict

4.4 New directions for co-operation

4.5 Progressive management concepts

References

5. Conflict over natural resources in Malaysia: the struggle of small-scale fishermen

(introductory text...)

5.1 Introduction

5.2 The 1950s early developments in the Malayan fisheries industry

5.3 The experience with fishing co-operatives, 1957-1965

5.4 A decade of trawling development, 1960-1970

5.5 The poverty eradication programme of the 1970s: new deal for small-scale fishermen?

5.6 Policy developments in the 1980s

5.7 Conclusion

References

6. Conflict over natural resources in the Pacific

(introductory text...)

6.1 The region and its resources

6.2 Conflicts over marine space

6.3 Conflicts over the marine environment

6.4 Conflicting maritime claims

6.5 Conflicts over pelagic resources

6.6 Conflict over seabed mineral resources

6.7 Conclusions

References

Appendix

2.2 The historical roots of conflict

The ASEAN region has been a region of conflict. In varying degrees, the six member countries are continuing to experience social unrest born out of conflicts over the use of natural resources and the distribution of the economic product of this wealth. In the Philippines, a 12,000-man New People's Army (NPA) guerrilla army led by the Communist Party has been a major thorn in the side of the government, first to the Marcos regime and now to the Aquino administration, and a hindrance to the consolidation of power in that country. There has been a resurgence of land conflicts in Indonesia, raising the spectre of the pre-1965 agrarian unrest. In Malaysia, despite the low profile of the armed leftist movement, the government feels insecure enough to continue its Internal Security Act (ISA). Until recently, Thailand was the scene of various encounters between government troops and a well-equipped leftist guerrilla movement.

A common characteristic of the region is its history of colonial or semi-colonial rule. With the exception of Thailand, all of the ASEAN states underwent a period of direct colonial rule, a process that transformed native societies and incorporated their economies into a world capitalist system. Thailand's signing of the Bowring Treaty in 1855 put it into a situation similar to that of its colonized neighbours vis-à-vis the advanced Western nations (Chiengkul, 1983: 30-1). Colonial economic policies were based on the systematic plunder of the natural resources of the subjugated nations. The introduction of Western concepts of property, including private ownership of land, engendered major conflicts and was the cause of countless anticolonial revolts launched by dispossessed peasants and ethnic groups. In the massive transfer of wealth generated by natural resources from the colony to the colonial power, nationalist elites also saw a justification for the launching of nation-wide anti-colonial movements, which eventually gained independence for their peoples. However, foreign exploitation of national resources did not end with the demise of direct colonialism. The Philippines was forced to accept the 'parity' agreement, by which American nationals were granted the right to exploit natural resources with as much ease as Filipinos. Malaya's tin, rubber, and oil-palm plantations continued to be controlled by the British long after the country attained independence. Under Sukarno, Indonesia tried to reverse the pattern by confiscating Dutch estates, but when he was toppled in 1966, his successor, Suharto, opened the economy to foreign participation and influence (Palmer, 1978: 82-3). Thailand became increasingly dependent on the United States for loans and investments. In short, the ending of colonialism did not result in the Ulltyillg of the economies of the ASEAN region to the needs of the advanced industrial capitalist states.

The issue of conflict over natural resources must be situated in the political, social, and cultural contexts of the countries in which they occur, in this case the ASEAN states. The region as a whole will be examined in this chapter, but the emphasis will be on the Philippines.