East Asian Community formed

East Asian Community formed

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Tokyo

Southeast Asian countries and Japan agreed on Friday to work
together toward the creation of the East Asian Community which
will also cover China and South Korea.

The leaders played down suggestions that the Community, aimed
at enhancing prosperity and security, was a strategy to counter
the rising influence of China.

The 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, however,
refrained from setting a clear target to realize their vision.

Koizumi himself acknowledged that the agricultural sector
would become a delicate issue between his country and ASEAN.

Japan has also pledged US$3 billion in aid to ASEAN for human
resources development and to develop areas along the Mekong River
over the next three years. The Greater Mekong Subregion
development will link the southern Chinese city of Kunming to
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The 11 leaders signed documents on a plan for the Community,
an Asian version of the European Union, in the "Tokyo Declaration
for the Dynamic and Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership in the New
Millennium" and in the ASEAN-Japan plan of action.

Japan also signed a declaration of intent to sign a regional
non-aggression pact, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. ASEAN
expects it to be signed in mid next year. Japan had declined to
sign it two months ago at the ASEAN Summit in Bali. Koizumi said
Japan's commitment to ASEAN remained unchanged regardless of the
Treaty but admitted Southeast Asian neighbors had urged Japan to
follow in the steps of China and India to join the pact.

In a joint press conference hosted by Koizumi and President
Megawati Soekarnoputri as cochairpersons of the summit, the Prime
Minister said the summit had laid a strong foundation for ASEAN
and Japan to step up the region's prosperity and security.

"There are more than 100 concrete measures in economic and
development areas, political and security and social and cultural
areas," Koizumi said.

Megawati, who confidently addressed the international media,
reiterated that Japan has been and would continue to be the most
important partner for ASEAN. The leaders also reiterated their
determination to combat international terrorism, which
Megawati said has "posed a deadly threat to regional security".

Both Megawati and Koizumi played down criticism that Japan's
ambition to take a front-line role in the East Asian Community
plan was more a strategy to counter China's rapidly increasing
influence in Asia.

"Both ASEAN and Japan relations, and China-ASEAN relations,
are for the good of East Asia in general," the President said.

Koizumi said China's progress would benefit not only Japan but
the region as a whole. "China should not be taken as a threat,
but rather be taken as an opportunity for Japan," he noted.

When asked about the nuclear crisis in the Korean
Peninsula, Megawati replied that her special envoy Nana Sutresna
was currently on a diplomatic mission to Pyongyang and Beijing in
her efforts to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to return
to the negotiation table. Indonesia had offered to mediate in the
crisis, given its long-term diplomatic ties with the communist
state.

"Indonesia is of the view that differences should be addressed
in order to find ways to eliminate differences, so that in the
end we can find an agreement to achieve peace in this region,"
said Megawati.

Megawati added she hoped the next round of talks on the issue
would be held as soon as possible following the talks in Beijing
in August. This will involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia
and the United States. Hopes for new talks were dashed on
Wednesday when U.S. President George W. Bush rejected offers from
North Korea for a nuclear freeze, in return for major
concessions.