Globalization poses security risks: Forum

Globalization poses security risks: Forum

BANGKOK (AP): Countries with defense interests in Asia agreed on Thursday that the volatility of the world economy because of globalization was forcing them to take a broader look at security concerns.

Foreign ministers of 23 countries represented in the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest defense conference, noted in their annual meeting that economic and social issues were increasingly important to security.

Host Thailand, highlighting topics discussed at the forum, said in a concluding statement that it was timely to discuss the security implications of globalization.

"We have agreed that the nature of security threats has changed," Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan told reporters.

"There are more players, more non-state actors," Surin remarked. "High-tech globalization and IT have certainly exacerbated and complicated the problems."

Asia was rocked in 1997 and 1998 by a financial crisis that spread from country to country, partly because of the high-speed trading done on international currency markets.

The crisis devastated Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea and undercut other countries that had enjoyed years of booming growth.

Asian economies have largely bounced back and expect a second year of overall growth.

China's foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan, said that the crisis had left lingering scars and "adversely affected Asian-Pacific security."

"Separatist forces are asserting themselves more aggressively," Tang said in a speech. "The rich-poor gap is widening. Ethnic and religious conflicts are cropping up one after another."

The hardest-hit country has been Indonesia, where long-time dictator Soeharto fell from power in 1998 amid economic near- collapse from the crisis.

The new, democratic government of President Abdurrahman Wahid has been beset since taking office last year with separatist or communal violence.

The ministers agreed in their statement that a united, democratic and prosperous Indonesia was "fundamental" to regional security.

The sprawling archipelago of 200 million people straddles global shipping lanes and is the largest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN Regional Forum, which inducted North Korea as a member Thursday, brings in 13 other countries with security interests in the region, including the United States, Russia and China.