ASEAN insists that Australia and NZ sign no-war pact
ASEAN insists that Australia and NZ sign no-war pact
Agencies, Vientiane/Canberra
Southeast Asian officials insisted on Friday that Australia
and New Zealand sign a non-aggression pact with ASEAN to dispel
any misconception about their intentions in the region.
The officials noted that countries from as far away as
Pakistan and Japan have acceded to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation (TAC), with Russia and South Korea also due to sign
on at next week's summit in Laos.
"We want to have Australia and New Zealand to come on board on
the TAC," said Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty
Natalegawa, reacting to remarks by Prime Minister John Howard
that Australia would not sign the treaty.
"Because we have now China, India, South Korea and Russia
acceding to the pact, it becomes even more pronounced that
Australia and New Zealand are not yet on board on this issue.
"We are looking to encourage them at this summit to precisely
consider this."
Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) secretariat
spokesman S. Pushpanathan added: "Of course, it (Australia's
accession to TAC) is very important to ASEAN."
Speaking to a Melbourne radio station on Friday, Howard, whose
stated policy of pre-emptive strikes to avert attacks has raised
concerns in the region, said the TAC was "the sort of agreement
which countries coming out of the Non-Aligned Movement would have
signed."
He said "a country such as Australia which has a different
history wouldn't normally have embraced treaties of this kind"
and that Australia was more interested in the substance of its
ties with ASEAN.
The ASEAN treaty calls for signatories to commit to "non-
interference in the internal affairs of one another", a
"renunciation of the threat or use of force" and the settlement
of disputes by peaceful means.
Marty said Howard was entitled to his own opinion.
"But the way Indonesia sees it, there can be no more efficient
and effective way for Australia to dispel misperceptions some
quarters may have of its intentions in Southeast Asia than to
simply accede to the TAC," he told reporters.
Howard and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark have been
invited for the first time to the annual ASEAN summit, which is
regularly attended by China, Japan, South Korea and more recently
India.
The summit will be used by the leaders of ASEAN, Australia and
New Zealand to launch negotiations for a free-trade agreement
which aims for completion in 10 years.
While ASEAN officials admit that accession to the treaty is
not a precondition to the free-trade talks, they said Australia's
refusal would result in an imbalance in overall relations with
ASEAN.
A Southeast Asian diplomat, who did not wish to be identified,
said relations with Australia "should be comprehensive", meaning
they should cover economic, security, political and other areas.
Marty said Australia and New Zealand's refusal to sign the
treaty "would be inconsistent with the intention to deepen
relations."
"Given Australia's much-pronounced statements on how much they
feel close to the region, we thought that they would be able to
see the positives in this," he said.
A study on ASEAN ties with Australia and New Zealand
commissioned by the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies recommended Canberra and Wellington consider signing the
treaty.
The study said accession "would be a significant symbolic
gesture of support for peace and stability in Southeast Asia."
"As partners of ASEAN, it would show that they accept the
approach for maintaining order that countries in the region are
comfortable with. This would be another step toward the goal of
regional integration."
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda last month said
ASEAN nations had strong opinions that Australia should sign it.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said regional diplomats
believed Australia's refusal to sign the treaty would stop ASEAN
from inviting Australia to future summits.
Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Boymkeuth Sangsomsack said the
group would like to see signs that Australia and New Zealand
would be willing to sign the treaty.
"We hope that at least during this summit meeting ...
Australia and New Zealand could consider to accede to the TAC,"
he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"At least we need to see the interest one day to join the TAC
if not (now) ... then some time," he said.
An Australian official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the government had concerns with details of the treaty,
which was designed as a statement of non-alignment to place ASEAN
nations between old Cold War rivals the United States and the
former Soviet Union.
He said that contrasted with Australia's policy of support for
U.S. engagement in the region.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the TAC statement of
non-interference in the internal affairs of another country would
make it impossible for Australia to criticize such things as
human rights issues in Myanmar.
"This has been the reason why historically Australia hasn't
signed the issue," Downer told Australian television.