ASEAN told to take 'medicine' for crisis

ASEAN told to take 'medicine' for crisis

MANILA (Agencies): U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
warned Southeast Asian nations yesterday the protracted financial
turmoil spilling over into other economies will only worsen if
the bitter but necessary "medicine" is refused.

Albright, who arrived in Manila to attend the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, said the economic
havoc will top the agenda during the conference devoted to
regional security concerns today.

"The risk of long-term harm to the global economy, and to our
own prosperity, cannot be ignored," she said. "We will stress the
lessons of the past year (that) to attract outside investment and
to ignite new growth, it is vital to apply democratic principles
and the rule of law to the marketplace."

While acknowledging the dire consequences on workers and
families from the stringent economic reforms dictated by such
bailout institutions as the International Monetary Fund, Albright
said, "This does not change the fact that reform is medicine. If
refused, the illness only grows worse. If taken, recovery becomes
only a matter of time."

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the economic
meltdown has had a direct impact on security "with the downsizing
of defense forces".

The crisis, which started in July 1997 after Thailand devalued
the baht, has triggered a drastic slowdown in the economies,
social unrest, and even forced Indonesian president Soeharto to
step down from power after 32 years.

The turmoil also compounded other unresolved and sensitive
issues, including tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the outcome
of elections in Cambodia, and rival claims to South China Sea
islands. India and Pakistan's nuclear tests have raised the
specter of an Asian nuclear arms race.

Downer called for condemnation of the Indian and Pakistani
nuclear tests, much stronger language than the nine members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations used in a communique
issued Saturday deploring the weapons testing.

Taboo subjects

ASEAN ended a two-day meeting of foreign ministers Saturday
marked by exchanges over whether to discuss previously taboo
subjects like democracy and human rights.

Ministers noted widespread criticism that the nine-member
group had appeared helpless in the face of major challenges such
as the region's financial crisis and calamitous forest fires last
year in Indonesia.

Their final communique deplored nuclear tests in South Asia --
it did not refer by name to India and Pakistan, which conducted
tit-for-tat nuclear tests in May -- and called for the
elimination of nuclear weapons.

The communique also highlighted the signing of a declaration
that member states would try to make Southeast Asia a drug-free
area by 2020. ASEAN members include countries of the infamous
opium-producing Golden Triangle, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

But the meeting was overshadowed by what looked like an
unresolved debate over whether ASEAN should permit a more
freewheeling political style and allow debate on issues
transcending boundaries, such as human rights and the
environment.

Albright said she would seek at the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF) "a unified international response" to the results of the
Cambodian elections monitored by a United Nations-led group
including the ASEAN members. Assessments of the polls will be
delivered by the joint international monitor group and a separate
one will be issued by the United States.

ASEAN foreign ministers have cautiously held hopes the polls
will be fair, free and credible, saying the successful elections
will pave the way for Cambodia's membership into the nine-member
organization this year.

ASEAN members are Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their ARF
dialog partners are Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Australia,
Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand,
South Korea, Russia, Mongolia and the United States.

Myanmar -- Page 14

Cambodia -- Page 16