ARF security forum graduates to deter diplomacy<\/p>\n
HANOI (AFP): The Asia-Pacific region's sole security forum
\nadopted landmark operational procedures on Wednesday that will
\nhelp prevent disputes from flaring up into a full-blown war,
\nofficials said.<\/p>\n
The procedures would give the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
\nlegitimacy in resolving bilateral and multilateral problems, like
\nthe Korean conflict and overlapping claims to the Spratly islands
\nin the South China Sea.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers and officials from 23 member countries of
\nthe ARF agreed at a one-day meeting in Hanoi that the forum
\ngraduate from its traditional confidence-building role to
\npreventive diplomacy, said a statement issued after the talks.<\/p>\n
"The ministers agreed that while moving towards PD (preventive
\ndiplomacy), the ARF should continue to strengthen its confidence-
\nbuilding process so as to substantially enhance mutual trust,
\nconfidence and understanding as well as cooperation among the ARF
\nparticipants," the statement said.<\/p>\n
Following its establishment in 1994, the 23-member ARF agreed
\non a gradual three-stage evolution of confidence building,
\npreventive diplomacy and, in the longer term, conflict
\nresolution.<\/p>\n
So far, the forum, which includes the 10 Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states, had concentrated on
\nconfidence-building measures.<\/p>\n
Aside from having annual ministerial-level meetings which
\ndiscuss pressing regional security and political concerns, ARF
\nmembers hold talks among their military chiefs, compare notes on
\ndefense expenditures and keep each other informed on military
\nexercises.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
The ARF also includes Australia, Canada, China, the European
\nUnion, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, Papua
\nNew Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.<\/p>\n
"We are (in effect) developing processes of conflict
\nprevention and may be one day, leading to conflict prevention
\npolicies," Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, the current
\nholders of the EU presidency, told AFP.<\/p>\n
"I feel there is a progress and there is movement now," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Analysts said the agreement to move towards preventive
\ndiplomacy -- resolving or containing disputes through peaceful
\nnon-military methods -- was a breakthrough because some members,
\nChina and India particularly, were worried that the move might
\nviolate the principle of state sovereignty.<\/p>\n
They were concerned that the new role would give a "third
\nparty" an excuse to interfere in domestic affairs.<\/p>\n
The forum had been debating the issue for more than two years.
\nProfessor Amitav Acharya, among a group of experts and eminent
\npersons who act as a resource in ARF meetings, told AFP that
\npreventive diplomacy procedures within ARF would however be
\nconfined to resolving inter-state conflicts and not intra-state
\ndisputes.<\/p>\n
Acharya, the deputy director of the Singapore-based Institute
\nof Defense and Strategic Studies, said the ARF could reduce, if
\nnot eliminate, the reliance of Asia Pacific countries on
\nexclusionary bilateral military arrangements.<\/p>\n
The ARF is different from European-style multilateral
\ninstitutions. It is non-legalistic and avoids binding and
\nintrusive approaches to security cooperation.<\/p>\n
Acharya said the ARF had successfully engaged the region's two
\nkey security players, China and the U.S., both of whom were
\nreluctant to join a multilateral security arrangement initially.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arf-security-forum-graduates-to-deter-diplomacy-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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