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.