The star of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was dimmed in recent years by the Asian financial and economic crisis, the incorporation of the Indochina states and Myanmar as members, the political and economic problems of Indonesia, bilateral disputes, and diversion of foreign direct investment to China. Not a few observers dismissed the organization as an empty talk shop, long on words but very short on action. The nadir was probably reached around 1999–2000.

Since then, the war on terrorism and ASEAN's courtship by China and Japan with trade liberalization initiatives have improved the regional organisation's standing, but it has not recovered the position and prestige that it enjoyed a decade ago.

But ASEAN's response to the threat posed by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has a bounce and efficiency about it reminiscent of the good old days when the association was on a roll. At short notice, ASEAN was able to convene a meeting of the ASEAN health ministers, plus their counter-parts from China, Japan, and South Korea in Kuala Lumpur on 26 April, followed three days later by a special ASEAN leaders’ meeting in Bangkok to address the SARS problem.

The meetings agreed on concrete measures to contain the spread of SARS, including the pre-departure screening of travelers and the sharing of information to trace people who may have come into contact with those already infected. There will be follow-up meetings of officials and experts and the setting up of an ad hoc ministerial-level task force to monitor enforcement of the decisions taken. Though implementation by some countries in some areas could initially be weak because of capacity inadequacies, there was no getting away from the sense of determination on the part of all members to get this right.

Even more significant was the special ASEAN-China leaders’ meeting, which included Hongkong, held after the ASEAN summit on 29 April. SARS originated in China and China's posture of denial for the critical first few months after the outbreak was most unfortunate. If China had raised the alarm soon after the outbreak started, other countries in the region would have been better prepared to cope with the disease and may have suffered fewer infections and deaths. But governments in the region have been reluctant to criticise China publicly, believing it would be counterproductive.