ASEAN steers clear of missile defense row

ASEAN steers clear of missile defense row

HANOI (Agencies): Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting here next week will dodge a dispute between the United States and emerging Asian power China over U.S. plans for a missile defense system, an official said on Friday.

Senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), preparing in Hanoi for their foreign ministers' gathering, agreed on a draft statement which will "express hope" that the Sino-U.S. dialogue on the missile shield "will help narrow down differences", said the delegate.

There had been suggestions that the draft should "express concern" over the contentious shield, but the ASEAN bureaucrats watered down the statement, said the official, who asked not to be named.

China has been among the most vocal opponents of the futuristic defense system that Washington says could be deployed against missile attacks from so-called "rogue states" such as North Korea or Iraq.

The ASEAN meeting's hosts, Vietnam, have also stridently opposed the scheme. But Washington counts some key Asian allies within the grouping, including the Philippines and Thailand. "ASEAN is not taking sides," the official said. "ASEAN was more concerned with the process -- that if you have differences, settle it down peacefully."

The United States has embarked on talks with European allies and other nations, such as Russia and China, to explain its missile defense plans amid criticism they could jeopardize existing arms-control treaties.

After meeting among themselves from Sunday to Tuesday, ASEAN foreign ministers will hold a dialogue with their major trading and security partners including the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and the European Union.

The discussions in the Vietnamese capital will form the eighth annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the region's only multilateral security forum.

The senior ASEAN officials also agreed on a statement supporting the importance of stable ties between the U.S. and China to regional security and stability, said the source.

A paragraph in the proposed statement to be submitted to the ministers will "express hope that relations among the major powers -- particularly the US and China -- remain stable".

"The unique thing here is that they referred in particular to the relationship between the U.S. and China," the official said, noting that similar statements in the past had declined to name countries.

"The concern really is the major power relationship, the stability of Asia especially at this time of economic difficulties. ASEAN would like to see their relationship to be stable," he said.

The delegate noted the ARF would be an opportunity for China and the U.S .to discuss their differences on missile defense, with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan both due to attend.

"That is the role of ASEAN in the ARF -- provide another opportunity as a forum for the major powers to engage each other on the subject."

Both the U.S. and China "will be pleased because ASEAN did not take sides", the official added.

ASEAN, which operates by consensus, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary General, Rudolfo Severino, said on Friday the global economic slowdown would not affect a plan by the bloc to assist development of its poorer members. "This is a bad time around the world," he told reporters.

"It used to be that developed countries had a different cycle, unfortunately now there is a convergence -- slowdown in the U.S., bad time in Europe, stagnation in Japan."

However, Severino, speaking as officials from ASEAN countries met in Hanoi to prepare a foreign ministers' meeting next week, said this would not stop the group's plan to help its poorer members, which include Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.

"In fact, it is a spur for the integration because we cannot deal with a lot of these problems individually any more," he said.

"We all have to push regional integration in order to became more attractive to investors. Otherwise, big economies like China, India...will get all the investment."

The foreign ministers' meeting next week is to adopt as it main formal agenda item a Hanoi Declaration outlining strategies to narrow the development gap between rich and poor members.

Severino said the plan would focus on human resources development, building up institutions and trying to strengthen the rule of law.

He declined to name any particular countries where the rule of law was still weak, but said: "If you are perceived to have a system of law in place then you have a better chance of attracting investment."