ASEAN rebuffs U.S. objections to treaty
ASEAN rebuffs U.S. objections to treaty
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
BANGKOK (JP): ASEAN labeled as groundless yesterday the United States's refusal to support the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty.
Indonesia's Arizal Effendi, the foreign ministry's director of international agreements, explained yesterday that none of the concerns put forth by Washington were valid.
He said the U.S. was mainly concerned that members the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were trying to expand their territory through the SEANWFZ.
U.S. concerns of "gripping jurisdiction" are a result of the nuclear free zone, which is made up of each ASEAN member's continental-shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone. It is feared that the zone will restrict the movement of U.S. warships, an accusation Arizal denies.
The U.S. State Department on Friday raised strong objections to the SEANWFZ, stating that Washington would not sign the treaty in its present form.
The SEANWFZ promises to be the highlight of the fifth ASEAN Summit, which begins on Thursday. Three southeast Asian heads of state -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- will also sign the treaty.
The SEANWFZ confirms ASEAN's commitment not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons.
The ASEAN Summit is being preceded by a two-day ministerial meeting which starts today.
U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said on Friday that SEANWFZ must not affect the rights of states as guaranteed by international law along with the rights of passage to sea lanes.
Arizal contended that all these questions are already guaranteed under SEANWFZ and pointed to Article II of the treaty, which states that nothing in the treaty will prejudice the rights of states under the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.
He also noted that Article VII permits port calls by foreign naval ships.
On the question of verification, which Washington has also brought up, Arizal maintained that during previous consultations the U.S. has never made it into an issue before.
Separately, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said upon his arrival in Bangkok yesterday that he could not understand Washington's objections.
"I really don't know why there would be any difficulties," he said.
Nevertheless, Alatas remained confident that with further consultation the U.S. would rectify its objections.
When asked by The Jakarta Post whether the U.S. move came as a surprise, Alatas said that it was not.
"From the start we knew there were some aspects which are sensitive to them and we have tried to overcome these but apparently a few still remain," he said after arriving here with Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto.
Philippines's Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Rodolfo Severino yesterday afternoon also told Indonesian journalists that U.S. concerns that SEANWFZ will affect existing defense arrangements in the region were unsubstantiated.
"We believe that the treaty is compatible with the mutual defense treaty," he said of the defense pact between Manila and Washington.
Despite the reservations he was hopeful the U.S. would change its position in the future. "We hope that eventually they'll get on board," he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian foreign minister Abdullah Badawi said yesterday that ASEAN should just go ahead no matter what the U.S. thinks.
"This our treaty, we have to do what we want," he said.