Japan, China, S. Korea, ASEAN to form new forum
Japan, China, S. Korea, ASEAN to form new forum
MANILA (DPA): The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as Japan, China and South Korea will launch a new East Asian forum next month to address the region's security and economic concerns, a diplomatic source said Friday.
The official of the ASEAN secretariat said the East Asian forum will "dwell on economic, security, political and development concerns".
The new body will be announced at the leaders' summit of ASEAN, Japan, China and South Korea (ASEAN Plus Three) in Manila in November, the official said on the sidelines of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) meeting in Manila.
Under a draft proposal, the ASEAN Plus Three summits held every two years will become an annual meeting under the new format of an East Asian cooperation forum.
The grouping "is not exclusive" and may eventually include New Zealand and Australia, the official said.
The creation of the new forum comes amid calls for a stronger security arrangement in Asia and the Pacific, where the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is currently the sole arena for security and political discussions.
The ARF has been widely criticized for being a mere "talk shop". It is composed of ASEAN - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Cambodia - and its 13 dialogue partners.
The Philippines proposed the creation of an East Asian security forum as an answer to the ARF's failure to address various security and political concerns that particularly affect the region.
"The ARF has so far not been able to transform from confidence building to conflict resolution," said Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon. "If the ARF cannot do it with the rest of the ASEAN dialogue partners, then in this case, we might do it in ASEAN Plus Three."
The ASEAN diplomat noted the establishment of the new forum "is a very strategic move" for East Asia, which also has "become an economic unit in itself".
"This is in effect an East Asian statement seizing the moment because they realized how interdependent East Asia is," the diplomat said.
At the opening of the three-day PECC meeting on Thursday, Philippine President Joseph Estrada cited the ASEAN Plus Three summit held every two years as a possible instrument "for effective political and security cooperation" in the region.
"We may want to consider expanding the mandate of the ASEAN Plus Three summit, revitalizing ARF, or creating a new security mechanism altogether," Estrada said.
"Any forum we decide on should be given the mandate and the capability to undertake preventive diplomacy, conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution initiatives and activities," he added.
Estrada cited the situation in the Taiwan Straits, missile development in the Korean peninsula, nuclear development and "uneasy peace" in South Asia and the territorial disputes in the South China Sea as major regional security concerns.