Secondly, when substantial negotiations were required to reach a common position(2:7 cases), ASEAN consensus has frequently been a function of external influences. Only on two occasions - the admission of Cambodia and the SEANWFZ treaty-did ASEAN members manage to forge consensus without significant exogenous influences. In five cases they did not. China’s assertiveness had catalyzing effects in February 1992 and in February 1995. After February 1992, ASAEN members agreed on the “Declaration on the South China Sea” and consensus was forged on the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum which engaged China and integrated the US and Japan in a regional security structure. Despite sketchier evidence in 1995, there is high plausibility that the event at Mischief Reef influenced the issue of ASEAN membership by speeding up Vietnam’s entry, Western attempts to dissuade ASEAN from admitting Myanmar tilted the balance in favour of its admission, as the issue became one of ASEAN against the west.