Italian minister calls for Asian security framework

JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Italian Minister of Defense Beniamino Andreatta suggested yesterday a formal security agreement between Asian nations, to create a concrete multilateral security framework in the region.

Andreatta, visiting Indonesia after last week's ASEAN-European Union foreign minister's meeting in Singapore, said the establishment of a formal security institution would ensure security in Asia.

"The idea is that the security problems should be addressed by all the major powers collectively in an inclusive multilateral framework, rather than by exclusive institutions each unilaterally geared to impose its interests on the other," Andreatta said.

Andreatta was speaking at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies yesterday, in a lecture titled Euro-Asian Security: A European Perspective.

Andreatta suggested a "concert of powers" system be established in Asia, in a fashion loosely based around the Congress System established in Europe after the Congress of Vienna in the 19th Century.

Andreatta described the question of China as "the key to Asian security", and argued the best course in meeting China's unpredictability was to engage and not isolate it from the international system.

"This means that China should be involved in regional decisions in an institutional process which like Europe's OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), involves all the countries in the region."

The existence of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was brushed aside by Andreatta: "Organizations like Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or the ASEAN Regional Forum are either not universal in their regional membership or they are not concerned with security matters."

The ARF is hosted by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and brings together its dialog partners, observers and consultative partners in an annual security meeting.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Andreatta said a concert system which included China was a more attractive option than the creation of a system of mutually restraining alliances.

China was too powerful and only by having a coalition of all medium-sized powers with the full and active backing of the United States could the alliance hope to compete, Andreatta said.

The creation of such an alliance, Andreatta added, could be perceived negatively and only serve to spur a negative reaction from China. A security alliance could also be a destabilizing factor and detrimental to the region's rapid economic growth, he said.

While ASEAN members have solidified cooperation in the economic and social sphere, they have tended to shy away from formal military arrangements; ASEAN has instead opted for bilateral security arrangements.

Indonesia, the largest ASEAN member, is opposed to the formation of military pacts. (mds)