For the country of some 1.4 million people on the eastern half of Timor island, it represents both a declaration of belonging and an affirmation that its future lies squarely within Southeast Asia.
“Asean accession has been East Timor’s major foreign policy ambition since the restoration of independence,” said Michael Leach, a professor of politics and international relations at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology and a co-founder of the Timor-Leste Studies Association. “It unites all major parties and key political figures.”
The country, officially known as Timor-Leste, won its independence in May 2002 following centuries of Portuguese colonisation and a brutal Indonesian occupation that lasted more than 20 years.
In the decades since, it has built democratic institutions, nurtured civic life and strived to find its place in the world. But its economy, by far the smallest in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, remains highly dependent on oil and gas and has struggled to diversify.
