Economic crisis, WTO top China and ASEAN talks

Economic crisis, WTO top China and ASEAN talks

KUNMING, China (AFP): China and ASEAN member-states opened
talks here Monday with the biting regional economic crisis and
Beijing's long-standing bid to enter the World Trade Organization
(WTO) dominating the agenda.

A long-standing South China Sea territorial dispute over the
Spratly Islands was also due to figure at the talks.

Among the issues discussed was China's foreign policy and
developments in the economic situation among the nine-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the group's
secretary general Rodolfo Severino told AFP.

China and Indonesia were due to brief the other countries on
their economic situation and reforms undertaken in the past year
since their last meeting.

Ties between superpowers China and the United States were also
being discussed, amid a flurry of talks on Beijing's 13-year bid
to join the WTO as well as the role of international finance
organizations and short-term capital flows.

"We of course discussed the prospect of China's entry into the
WTO. There were a lot of issues," Severino said.

"One of them was the treatment of China as a developing
nation. The other issue is the position of demands attaining to
quotas ... that are not imposed on other countries but are
imposed by the U.S. on China," he said.

Although he did not specify, an ASEAN official said quotas
were applied for example on Chinese textiles which were not
applied on textiles from other nations.

China won some support for its bid to enter the WTO as a
developing nation, something that has been opposed by Washington
which argues that its markets are far too vast.

"We support free trade, but there has to be recognition of
status of the developing economy," a Thai official said, asking
to remain anonymous.

ASEAN officials are also discussing a regional code of conduct
in a move to resolve a dispute over the Spratly Islands.

"This is a regional plan of action discussed in Hanoi in 1998
which we want regional countries and claimants to Spratly Islands
to sign," the Philippines' Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja told
AFP.

The code, which was to be discussed later in the day, will
spell out guidelines governing activities in the disputed chain
according to the international maritime laws, he said.
The Philippines was "sounding out China on the proposal," Baja
added.

"A code of conduct is good ... it would help to reduce tension
and facilitate cooperation in that strategic part of the region,"
the Thai official said.

The move comes amid nervousness in the region over a
diplomatic row between Beijing and Manila over Chinese structures
on a coral reef just 135 nautical miles from the Philippines
island of Palawan.

Four ASEAN members -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and
Vietnam -- lay partial claim to the Spratlys.

"It is better for us to have a mutual understanding to keep
the peace and stability in the region and it benefits all the
parties concerned," a Vietnamese official said.

China and Taiwan also partially or wholly claim the Spratlys,
a group of reefs, islands and shoals which lie along strategic
shipping lines and are believed to harbor rich oil reserves.

Analysts have identified the Spratlys as a potential
flashpoint in East Asia, with tensions exacerbated in recent
years by China's building activities there and Philippine
detention of Chinese fishermen.

Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand are the other
ASEAN members.

China is represented by vice foreign minister Yang Wenchang
and Wang Yi, assistant foreign minister. The ASEAN countries are
represented by their countries' vice ministers or ambassadors in
China.