ASEAN leaders, Chinese PM to unite against SARS at summit

ASEAN leaders, Chinese PM to unite against SARS at summit

Samantha Brown, Agence France-Presse, Bangkok

In a rare emergency summit on Tuesday, ASEAN's 10 leaders plus
China's Premier Wen Jiabao will seek to present a unified front
to the world in their battle against the SARS crisis, while
behind-the-scenes negotiations with China are likely to be more
delicate, analysts say.

The summit is likely to produce a message of unity pitched
primarily at investors as fears of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) soar with the relentless daily death tolls from
worst-hit China and Hong Kong persisting, they say.

"They will enumerate the measures they have taken, while
trying to sell the idea that the situation has stabilized," one
Bangkok-based Western diplomat said.

"The basic idea they will present is: agreeing the epidemic
has not been eradicated, but has been reduced, and saying, we
have taken firm and effective measures to contain it, therefore
it is not necessary to reduce investment."

SARS is wreaking havoc on ASEAN's economies, with growth
forecasts being steadily lowered and tourism plummeting, leaving
related industries, such as aviation, reeling.

Its potentially devastating social impact is also becoming
clear, with at least 278 people now dead from the illness, mostly
in Asia, and more than 4,800 people infected in more than 25
countries.

China's failure to alert the world to the emergence of the new
virus in southern Guangdong province last November has evinced
widespread criticism, but ASEAN and China have realized they must
join forces if they have any chance of containing the disease,
analysts say.

At a meeting of East Asian health ministers in Malaysia's
Kuala Lumpur on Saturday ahead of the leaders' summit, China's
deputy health minister Huang Jiefu was asked about the value of
meeting with his ASEAN counterparts.

"I think solidarity and also (being) united and together as a
team to fight the epidemic," he said.

At the meeting, the ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea
vowed to enforce strict screening measures at all airports and
other exit points to prevent suspected SARS cases from leaving,
in a strong indication of cooperation.

How ASEAN deals with China behind the scenes, however, is less
certain, with the powerful country's presence possibly
complicating overall negotiations, the diplomat said.

"In terms of making a display, the fact that China is already
there is a sign of mobilization of the principal Asian countries,
which can only be well perceived. But the concrete results are
likely to be reduced. It is a delicate exercise," the diplomat
said.

"Either they will not announce anything with regard to China
or they will announce further measurements, but that is not
probable," he said, noting Singapore and Thailand's reliance on
China as a trade partner.

Prapat Thepchatree, director of Thammasat University's Center
for International Policy Studies, believes that ASEAN will be
reluctant to openly criticize China, but said that China's
backfoot handling of the crisis could subtly shift the regional
balance of power.