ASEAN-China summit in Cambodia to chart closer relations

ASEAN-China summit in Cambodia to chart closer relations

S. Pushpanathan, Assistant Director, External Relations,
ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta

ASEAN and China will be holding their annual summit on 4 Nov.
4, 2001 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The forthcoming summit will be
a landmark meeting as ASEAN and China would be adopting a number
of significant agreements that would guide the future of the
relations.

ASEAN-China relations started in 1991 when China was invited
to attend the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Economic cooperation and political consultations between ASEAN
and China were initiated in 1994 and China was elevated to a
dialogue partner in 1996.

In just three years, ASEAN-China relations were further raised
to the summit level together with Japan and the Republic of
Korea. This signifies the importance ASEAN placed on its
relations with China. Besides, the financial crisis had drummed
into ASEAN the importance of moving closer with its East Asian
partners for economic and financial stability. The ASEAN plus
Three Summit was a resultant of the crisis which enables ASEAN
and its East Asian partners to forge closer economic relations,
especially in the economic and financial areas.

This year's summit is significant as ASEAN and China would be
signing the framework agreement on economic cooperation. The
framework agreement would provide for negotiation of an ASEAN
China free trade area (ACFTA), investment and services
liberalization and facilitation as well as other areas of
cooperation within next year. It would also include special and
differential treatment and flexibility for ASEAN, especially the
new member countries and an early harvest package to provide
incentives to accelerate the ACFTA. The ACFTA when established in
a decade or more would be the largest in the world with a
combined market of 1.7 million people, a gross domestic product
of US$2 trillion and two-way trade of $1.23 trillion.

ASEAN and China will also be signing a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on agricultural cooperation on the sidelines
of their summit. Agriculture was identified by the last ASEAN-
China summit as a priority area for cooperation. Under the MOU,
China would be providing ASEAN with training and capacity
building activities in agriculture, fisheries and aquiculture,
biotechnology, farm machinery, agro industry, livestock
production, post harvest technology and food security. China has
earmarked additional funds to implement these activities.

While economic cooperation is progressing well, ASEAN and
China would also want to strengthen their cooperation in the
political and security field to achieve a balance in the
relationship. China is a strategic partner of ASEAN and is a key
to ensuring peace and stability in East Asia important for
economic development of countries in the region.

ASEAN and China are expected to sign a declaration on
cooperation in non traditional security issues covering
terrorism, drug trafficking, trafficking in persons and others.
Following the signing, both sides are expected to look at
developing a work plan and appropriate mechanisms to implement
the declaration.

Another document that could come out of the ASEAN-China summit
would be the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea which was mooted in July this year by Malaysia as a
confidence building measure to promote peace and security in the
South China Sea. The Code of Conduct in the South China Sea that
both sides had been working on for sometime has hit a snag since
the claimants could not agree on the geographical scope of the
agreement.

Apart from signing these documents, the ASEAN-China summit is
expected to discuss a number of important issues. China has
reiterated its interest to sign ASEANs Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation (TAC) and the Protocol to the Treaty of Southeast
Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. The summit may look into the
possibility of China signing the TAC and at some point of time
the SEANWFZ Treaty. ASEAN is expected to conduct its second
round of direct consultations with the five nuclear weapon states
on the SEANWFZ Treaty in 2003.

Cooperation in the other priority areas identified by the last
ASEAN-China summit, information communication technology and
Mekong basin cooperation could also be discussed. China is ready
to support the Kunming-Bangkok highway project by undertaking
construction of the some sections of the highway through co-
financing with the concerned ASEAN countries. China has also
spent $2.08 billion to develop its own portion of the highway.

China is keen to develop river navigation with ASEAN and could
provide limited funding to regulate some sections of the
navigation channel within the territories of Laos and Myanmar.
China is also interested in participating in the construction of
Singapore-Kunming railway line, especially through bidding and to
exploring the possibility of enhancing railway transit transport
cooperation with neighboring ASEAN countries.

Air services would be an area that both sides could touch
upon. China is keen to enlarge the air service arrangements with
ASEAN member countries on a bilateral basis with the intention to
establish more air services among the secondary cities,
especially those in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and to develop
air freight services. Multilateral arrangements for air services
with the ASEAN countries would be a possibility when the
bilateral air services arrangements have been expanded.

Human resources development is another area that China is
actively pursuing to promote exchange of experts, sharing of
knowledge and best practices in areas of mutual interest.

Nine projects have been completed worth $750,000 since the
last ASEAN-China summit and 31 projects are under consideration.

The partnership of ASEAN and China has been fostered based on
mutual interests and a high level of commitment. The relations
is highly enduring and is expected to reach new heights as both
sides begin implementation of the key agreements that would be
coming out of the summit next week.