ASEAN, West vow to lower tensions
ASEAN, West vow to lower tensions
By Pandaya
BANGKOK (JP): Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and their Western allies ended their meeting
yesterday, pledging closer collaboration to reduce tensions in
the Asia-Pacific region.
As usual, no specific agreements were reached in the two-day
post-ministerial conference (PMC), which followed the annual
ASEAN ministerial gathering. Instead, they held a joint press
conference.
They called for more concerted action for the restoration of
democracy in Myanmar, reduced tension on the Korean peninsula and
in the South China Sea, and more concerted support for the
legitimate Cambodian government.
The officials expressed their support for continued peaceful
settlement to the Bosnian civil war and welcomed the Israel-
Jordan peace agreement signed in Washington last Monday.
The ministers from ASEAN -- which groups Thailand, Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore -- and their
dialog partners from the U.S., Canada, European Union, Japan,
South Korea, New Zealand and Australia also pledged to improve
their economic cooperation.
The post ministerial meeting noted the change in the Western
powers in their attitude towards the military junta in Myanmar.
The EU, U.S., Australia and New Zealand, once supporters of
total isolation of Myanmar, now back ASEAN's "constructive
engagement" policy towards that country.
The two allies increased their pressure for the release of
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and an improvement of
their human rights record.
"The military regime should heed the democratic aspirations
of its people, adopt fundamental political reforms and respect
human rights," said U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic,
Business and Agricultural Affairs Joan Spero.
Arms sale
The ASEAN and the Western allies support the democratically
elected government in Cambodia and seek to isolate the Khmer
Rouge, which continuously attempt to destabilize the country.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and
Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi denied reports that
the two countries supply arms to the Cambodian government.
Alatas said what Jakarta offered was military training in
Indonesia but never arms, which would amount to a breach of
ASEAN's policy.
Badawi said Kuala Lumpur was ready to provide training for the
Cambodian military personnel because Malaysia has the capacity to
do so.
Thai newspapers, quoting unspecified documents and unnamed
sources, said that the Indonesian Pindad arms manufacturing
company will sell three million bullets for M-16 riffles, worth
US$378,000, to the Cambodian army.
Indonesian embassy officials in Bangkok said they knew nothing
about the arms deal, in which the ammunition, reportedly, will be
shipped to the Cambodian seaport of Kompong Som in August.
Alatas reiterated his denial that Jakarta in any way leveraged
Bangkok's attempt to ban a series of seminars on East Timor prior
to the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting that opened on July 22.
He said the unofficial seminars were the work of a handful
East Timorese dissidents who represented themselves and meant to
politicize the forum for their own personal interests.
Recovering from a heart surgery recently, Alatas became
hostile whenever journalists raised the issue of East Timor, a
former Portuguese colony in the eastern tip of Indonesian Timor
island which integrated itself into Indonesia in 1976 in the wake
of civil war in the territory.
Nuclear
Japan, the U.S., EU and South Korea urged quick solution to
the nuclear crisis in North Korea and prompt resumption of inter-
Korea peace talks.
"The door is kept open and we wait for a message from North
Korea to resume a dialog soon," said South Korea Foreign Minister
Han Sung-joo.
Spero and Singapore Foreign Minister Shunmugam Jayakumar
clashed over linkage of human rights with international trade
agreements.
Spero emphasized the importance of linking social issues like
workers rights, environment and labor standards with such
agreement.
Jayakumar rejected the idea, saying that the policy
represented a protectionist move and would hurt competitiveness
of goods from the developing countries.