Howard seeks compromise on Asian peace pact<\/p>\n
Australia is likely to swallow its pride and sign a Southeast
\nAsian peace pact in order to secure a place at a key regional
\nmeeting in Malaysia at the end of the year, commentators in
\nCanberra said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Analysts noted the government of Prime Minister John Howard
\nhad softened its stance on acceding to the Treaty of Amity and
\nCooperation (TAC) that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN) insists is a pre-requisite for attendance at the East
\nAsia summit in Kuala Lumpur in December.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, which groups Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam,
\nthe Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia, is
\nin charge of the guest list for an inaugural end-of-year East
\nAsia Summit that would bring together ASEAN plus Japan, China,
\nSouth Korea. If agreed, India, Australia and New Zealand would
\nalso attend the summit.<\/p>\n
Australia stands alone in refusing to sign the TAC, which
\nHoward said earlier this year belonged to \"a mind set that we've
\nreally all moved on from\".<\/p>\n
At a weekend meeting, ASEAN foreign ministers decided that
\nsummit partners all had to sign the TAC, a pact that commits
\nsignatories to little more than some vague non-aggression ideals.<\/p>\n
While initially hostile to the TAC, Canberra trimmed its
\nposition after New Zealand said it would consider signing.<\/p>\n
\"We don't like the treaty as it stands, but we are going to be
\ntalking with ASEAN about how this issue can be handled,\" Foreign
\nMinister Alexander Downer said.<\/p>\n
Adding that he believed Australia would be invited, Downer
\nsaid: \"I'm confident about that. I think there is a very good
\nchance that we will be\".<\/p>\n
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Phil Goff earlier this week
\ntold Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Wellington would not sign
\nthe TAC solely to get a place at the summit, but would consider
\nit on its merits. Goff said accession was \"essentially symbolic\".<\/p>\n
Canberra's initial hostility to the TAC was founded on its
\ninsistence that pre-emptive strikes against terrorists
\nthreatening Australia were allowable. The TAC bars signatories
\nfrom interfering in the affairs of others.<\/p>\n
Howard later stressed that he had in mind chaotic South
\nPacific nations when referring to jurisdictions where Australia
\nmight launch a pre-emptive strike against a terrorist cell. --
\nDPA<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/howard-seeks-compromise-on-asian-peace-pact-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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