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news Scmp World 2026-05-30

East Timor President: Dialogue, Not Force, Should Guide Global Relations

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta stated that ASEAN's approach to dialogue offers diplomatic lessons for global power structures. He emphasized that sustained security cannot stem from military might alone.


The world can learn diplomatic lessons from Asean, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta has said in a strongly worded rebuke to existing global power structures. At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Ramos-Horta, who leads the newest and 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, argued that the bloc epitomised how dialogue could prevent conflict and yield dividends. He acknowledged that Asean was “not heaven on earth”, achieving consensus was “frustratingly slow”...

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