Army chiefs from Asia-Pacific meet in Singapore

Army chiefs from Asia-Pacific meet in Singapore

SINGAPORE (AP): Army chiefs from 20 Asia-Pacific countries launched a four-day meeting in Singapore on Sunday, amid worries that Asia's economic crisis threatens to undermine the region's hard-won peace and stability.

The Asia-Pacific's boom years of the early 1990s raised hopes that such stability would continue but the economic downturn has changed all that, Singapore's Defense Minister Tony Tan said.

"While the economic crisis seems to have bottomed out, the regional security outlook remains uncertain," Tan said in an opening speech at the Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference, or PACC.

The talks, aimed at building ties and sharing administrative ideas among army chiefs, are hosted by Singapore's Chief of Army Maj. Gen. Lim Chuan Poh and United States Army Chief of Staff Gen. Erik K. Shinseki.

Specific Asia-Pacific security threats would likely be discussed -- but only informally -- by delegates, Col. John Smith, U.S. Army Pacific chief of public affairs, told Associated Press.

"Topical issues in the region certainly will be talked about off-line," he said, adding that these could include escalating violence in East Timor, China-Taiwan tensions and trouble between India and Pakistan.

"But those are not on the agenda," Smith said.

In his opening remarks, Tan called for more multi-country security talks and professional exchanges among Asia-Pacific defense forces as a way to protect stability.

"In particular, recent developments in South and Northeast Asia have the potential to destabilize the region," Tan said. "Moreover, there still exist a number of unresolved territorial and boundary issues, such as the overlapping claims in the Spratlys (Spratly Islands), which requires delicate management and restraint to prevent them from boiling over," Tan said.

Six Asian powers claim all or parts of the Spratlys, mineral- rich islands in the South China Sea. The area is seen as a potential military flashpoint.

The theme of the Singapore conference is "Changes confronting the armies of the 21st century," organizers said.

The U.S. Army could use the conference to share its experience in handling military budget constraints with its crisis-hit counterparts, Smith said. It might also learn about areas such as army recruitment, which is currently "tight" in the United States, he added.

"There might be an army out there that's doing well with recruitment," he said. "Maybe we can learn from it."

Countries participating include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga and the United States.

Another similar conference, the Pacific Armies Management Seminar, is being held in Singapore Sep. 5-10. The management seminar involves senior-level army officers and looks at managing armies in the next century.

The second conference includes armies from the 20 PACC countries, along with those from Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vanuatu.