ASEAN champions EAEC cause

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia (JP): ASEAN foreign ministers at the end of their annual meeting here yesterday expressed satisfaction at the progress of the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) and hoped that it would soon be instituted.

"The foreign ministers noted with satisfaction the increasing cooperation among potential EAEC members and expressed the hope that the Caucus would soon be formally instituted for the benefit of its members," read the Joint Communique of the 30th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.

The brief statement comes under the backdrop of a planned informal ASEAN summit meeting in December which will also invite China, Japan and South Korea -- a de facto collection of the EAEC membership.

The informal ASEAN summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Dec. 14to Dec.16.

"Up to now the EAEC cannot yet be launched, as you know, there are still objections from several sides causing doubts on the part of potential members of the EAEC," Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended a two-day meeting here yesterday with a 15- page joint communique. The communique covered political, economic, regional, and international issues

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The meeting marked the first time Laos and Myanmar participated after being admitted as full members on Wednesday.

The formation of the EAEC has stuttered as the prospective non-ASEAN members have been hesitant to join. The United States has indicated that it does not approve of the Caucus, thus causing hesitancy on the part of countries like Japan.

Alatas said while the EAEC has not come to fruition, ASEAN has backed the Caucus from the start.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admitted that launching the Caucus has not been easy. "The prospective members were not sure what the EAEC can do," he said.

But he quickly noted that the prospective non-ASEAN members are now "becoming more comfortable" with th idea, pointing out that it would be a forum for discussing various issues effecting the region and not aimed "at deciding anything that would be confrontational to other interests or other groups."

Trade

The 57-point communique also took a tough stand against linking human rights to trade issues, warning that it could undermine the international trading system.

"The foreign ministers while recognizing the importance of trade in bringing about economic development to the ASEAN countries, maintained that human rights issues should not be made conditional to the promotion of free trade among nations," the communique said.

It expressed "concern over the emerging trend of state, provincial and other local authorities in countries outside this region seeking to impose trade sanctions against other states on grounds of alleged human rights violations and non-trade related issues."

While the statement did not refer directly to Myanmar, ASEAN's newest member has been the target of indignation and sanctions from the West for its alleged suppression of the pro- democracy movement.

The economic issues covered 18-points of the communique on such matters as currency manipulation, the ASEAN Free Trade Area and support for Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

On labor issues, the foreign ministers reiterated the position of ASEAN labor ministers that trade access "should not be linked to workers' conditions or the levels of implementation of labor standards in a particular country."

Included in the political, regional and international issues section were perennial topics such as the Middle East crisis, the South China Sea and United Nations reform.

On the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the foreign ministers expressed their hope that it could now move into the second stage of growth dealing with preventive diplomacy.

The ARF brings ASEAN and its dialog partners together in a loose consultative forum on political-security issues. With the ultimate aim of conflict resolution, the ARF is now evolving from the confidence building stage to preventive diplomacy.

The ARF will hold their fourth meeting here tomorrow.

"ASEAN proposes that we advance to the second stage. Otherwise we'd be accused of being stagnant. This is why we are now combining the (first) two stages," Alatas said.

Also attending yesterday's meeting were Brunei's Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah, Laos' Somsavat Lengsavad, Myanmar's U Ohn Gyaw, the Philippine's Domingo Siazon, Singapore's S. Jayakumar, Thailand's Prachuab Chaiyasan and Vietnam's Nguyen Manh Cam.

Commenting on just ended meeting, Badawi said the meeting went smoothly without any real contention despite minister sometimes having divergent views.

"We did not have any difficulty what so ever in discussing the issues at hand and coming to a consensus," he added.

Ministers today have a day-off as they wait their dialog partner counterparts to arrive for the ARF. United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer already arrived yesterday evening.

Upon his arrival, Downer held a brief meeting with Alatas.

This evening the 21 foreign ministers attending the ARF will hold an informal dinner hosted by Badawi.

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