ASEAN senior officials discuss Pacific Concord
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Senior officials from the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) yesterday explored the possibility of ensuring even greater regional security by establishing a Pacific Concord and a Code of Conduct for the Spratlys.
The proposal for the establishment of the Concord and the Code was presented by non-government experts at the ASEAN think tank known as the ASEAN-ISIS. The group is often referred to as 'track-two'.
The Pacific Concord would be similar to that of the existing Treaty of Amity of Cooperation, but wider in scope in order to accommodate the participants of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The Pacific Concord is proposed in the expectation that it would set in motion the establishment of principles and norms to govern security and political cooperation in the Asia Pacific region.
The need for the Concord comes from the continuing disputes among ASEAN members on whether non-member states would in the future be allowed to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.
"We have now received input from the 'track-two' which proposes this method," the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's Director General of Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim said yesterday.
He maintained, however, that officials have yet to deliberate on the matter and that no decision has been taken by the meeting.
The Concord includes adherence to the principles of non- interference in domestic affairs, the right to choose political and economic doctrines, and respect for each others' territorial integrity.
The discussion on the issue was held during the second day of the three-day ASEAN senior officials meeting. It featured representatives of the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, including Jusuf Wanandi, Hadi Susastro and Kusnanto Anggoro.
ASEAN, a regional grouping formed in 1967, comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In July 1993, it established the ARF as a multilateral security consultative forum which includes Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Laos, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
A second important proposal presented by representatives from the think-tank yesterday was a Code of Conduct for the Spratlys.
The code is designed to help contribute to the promotion of stable regional order in the South China Sea.
Four ASEAN states, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, along with non-members China and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the area.
The fundamental principles of the code could be based on the existing multilateral agreements such as United Nations conventions and other ASEAN treaties.
The experts said the code should include renunciation of the use of force, and the need for self-restraint so that no more expansionist attempts are made in the area. It should also explore cooperation on peaceful uses of the South China Sea and agreement that disputes would not affect the development of normal bilateral relations.
Izhar said the experts' proposals "would be considered" and acknowledged that they had not been fully deliberated on by the government officials during the meeting.
"Generally, there's an agreement to let the 'track-two' continue because its decisions are not binding," he said. "If there are good ones, we can take them up." (mds)