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.