Lee hopes Australia will join EAS

Lee hopes Australia will join EAS

SINGAPORE: Singapore is optimistic that Australia will be part of
the East Asia Summit (EAS) when it is launched, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday.

Speaking at a World Economic Forum meeting in Singapore, Lee
said Australia and New Zealand would be able to participate in
the summit once they had signed a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation
with ASEAN, the 10-member Southeast Asian grouping.

New Zealand has already said it would sign the treaty this
year, while Australia is reconsidering its earlier opposition.

"I am therefore optimistic that both countries will be part of
EAS when it is launched, and we will create a forum which will
accurately reflect the emerging community of nations in Asia,"
Lee said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on April 18
he was confident his country would join the summit despite media
reports that China opposed its inclusion due to its close ties
with the United States.

The inaugural summit is expected to convene in Malaysia in
December. The summit was created by the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Korea, China and Japan. --Reuters