Concerns confronting ASEAN

Concerns confronting ASEAN

Madeleine Albright's statement that the Korean peninsula is "perhaps the most dangerous place on earth today" is just one example of the weight of international concerns that ASEAN members are confronted with in this extremely sensitive time in the organization's history.

Fears of another missile test by the enigmatic Pyongyang regime cast serious doubts about how stability can be maintained in the region. But if North Korea is the greatest threat to peace, as the U.S. Secretary of State has warned, it is by no means the only one.

The Taiwan crisis and the rumbling discord about ownership of the Spratly Islands are not far behind as potential powder kegs.

Six ASEAN members have claims to the islands, and there is clearly a willingness to find an acceptable solution, perhaps with joint development of the natural reserves believed to be there. It might have been better to start formal talks on the back of the present forum rather than waiting until October.

The recent incident involving the sinking of a Chinese vessel by the Philippine navy shows that there is some urgency in finding an acceptable Code of Conduct, before a worse dispute arises.

But ASEAN cannot solve this question unaided. China's role in this matter, as with the North Korean question, is crucial. Now that relations with the U.S. are on the mend, the two major powers have to thrash out a mutually acceptable approach to both problems.

But it is Beijing, as the dominant power in the region, which must act as arbiter, rising above its own concerns in the wider interests of regional stability.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong