On its own terms, ASEAN is surprisingly effective

IT HAS at times been hard for Banyan to be a fan of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Economist is plain-spoken; the ten-country club has an irritating habit of talking around the big issues. We are not the only ones who have been frustrated by the bloc’s reserve. Activists decry its refusal to condemn the human-rights records of its more abusive members. China hawks bristle at its reluctance to call out by name its pushy neighbour to the north. It is not much of an economic bloc. When ASEAN convenes in Kuala Lumpur this week for its twice-annual summit, Banyan may sympathise with those complaining that it isn’t doing what they want it to do—or appearing to do very much at all.