Big power rows could burst Asian bubble: RP<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): Big power conflicts could \"burst the bubble
\nof stability\" in the Asia-Pacific region and wreck APEC's
\npotential as the world's biggest free-trade area, Philippine
\nPresident Fidel Ramos warned yesterday.<\/p>\n
He said even if the major powers kept the military balance
\namong them, greed arising from unrestrained economic competition
\ncould ruin Asia's inter-connected markets.<\/p>\n
Ramos spoke at the opening session of a two-day seminar among
\nsecurity experts and scholars on Southeast Asian security and the
\nrole of external powers in preserving regional peace.<\/p>\n
He urged the integration of China into the Asia-Pacific
\ncommunity, as western Europe did in integrating post-war Germany
\ninto the European Union, in order to ensure regional stability.<\/p>\n
\"The regional environment continues to be unsettled because
\nthe big powers have yet to clear up their interests and
\nintentions,\" Ramos said.<\/p>\n
He cited the need for members of the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) forum to first keep the peace among
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
\"Any explosion of violence in any part of the Asia-Pacific
\nwill burst the bubble of stability that keeps its 'economic
\nmiracle' going,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the 18 member economies of APEC agreed at a summit
\nheld in the Philippines last week to step up the creation of a
\nfree-trade area encompassing half of the world's wealth.<\/p>\n
Ramos said China's intentions in the South China Sea,
\nwidespread fears of the United States reverting to isolationism
\nand trade tensions between Japan and the United States, which
\ncould affect their bilateral security alliance, were among the
\nsecurity worries of ASEAN and other small Asian countries.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, groups
\nMalaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia,
\nVietnam and Brunei. Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are observers and
\nhope to join the grouping soon.<\/p>\n
\"China's rapidly expanding economy will unavoidably generate
\npolitical and military pressures on the Asia-Pacific, even
\nassuming that Beijing made no effort to build its capability to
\nproject power beyond its borders,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ramos said the success of the recent APEC meeting and the
\nvisit to Manila last week of Chinese President Jiang Zemin should
\nreinforce ASEAN optimism that a solution could be found to the
\ndispute over the South China Sea's Spratly islands.<\/p>\n
The potentially oil-rich reefs are claimed wholly or in part
\nby China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.<\/p>\n
Ramos said he had suggested to Jiang that dialogue as well as
\nmultilateral talks could help resolve their dispute over the
\nislands.<\/p>\n
\"How China exercises its economic, political and military
\npower must also concern us all - and none more so than we
\nsoutheast Asians, who are its closest neighbors.\"<\/p>\n
Another source of uncertainty is the issue of how Japan can
\nturn into a self-reliant nation in defense matters, he said.
\nHe added: \"There is an anomaly and anachronism ... in Japan
\nremaining a strategic client of the United States.<\/p>\n
\"This can only fan an unhealthy kind of nationalism in a
\nnation acutely aware of its political uniqueness and economic
\npower, increasing the danger that the bitter disputes over trade
\nbetween the two countries would spill over into their security
\nrelationship.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/big-power-rows-could-burst-asian-bubble-rp-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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