Nuclear free zone, help wanted

JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN foreign ministers asked the world's major nuclear states yesterday to support the region's move to turn Southeast Asia into a nuclear weapon-free zone.

Winding up their two-day meeting, the ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a communique called on all nuclear weapon states "to extend their cooperation by acceding to the Protocol of the Treaty".

All 10 Southeast Asian leaders at their summit in Bangkok last December signed the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Treaty which bars signatories from producing, owning, using, or stockpiling nuclear weapons. The United States has refused to sign the protocol of the treaty, citing objection to several elements in the agreement.

ASEAN ministers tomorrow will meet with their counterparts from the U.S., China and Russia in the 21-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to discuss regional security matters.

"At this meeting we agreed to respectively ratify the treaty as soon as possible," said Malaysia's Abdullah Badawi at a joint news conference after the meeting. Malaysia will host the next ASEAN ministerial meeting next year.

The meeting was attended by Brunei's Mohamad Bolkiah, Indonesia's Ali Alatas as chairman, Malaysia's Abdullah Badawi, the Philippine's Domingo L. Siazon, Singapore's S. Jayakumar, Thailand's Amnuay Viravan and Vietnam's Nguyen Manh Cam.

Alatas at the news conference described the mood of the meeting as "exceptionally smooth".

Stable

The 15-page Joint Communique stressed that while the region has been relatively stable and peaceful, tension and longstanding disputes exists which, if unmanaged, could erupt into conflicts. The relative peace and stability in the region could be attributed to ASEAN's endeavors, the ministers said.

The meeting also adopted a criteria for participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum.

They stressed that while there is wide interest in the forum, "ASEAN should continue to be the driving force of this forum."

On a more specific regional issue, the ministers expressed concern about the overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The ministers, however, were heartened that the claimants expressed a willingness to abstain from the use of force in its resolution. They also endorsed the idea of a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea.

The ministers also addressed the situation in the Middle East, Bosnia Herzegovina and the Korean Peninsula.

They called for the conclusion of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) for nuclear weapons this year, an issue which is expected to be raised when they meet with I.K. Gujral of India on the sidelines of the ARF.

India has declined to sign the treaty, insisting that it be linked to nuclear disarmament, and demanding a more specific time frame.

Commenting on India's position, Alatas said that "by slapping (the disarmament) on now, and insisting on a time frame for that, and linking it to the CTBT, I'm afraid it will endanger the CTBT".

On the economic side, the ministers welcomed the progress made in speeding up the region's move towards a free trade area, noting in particular the reduction of the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs to 0 percent to 5 percent for virtually all items by the year 2000 instead of 2003 as originally planned.

The ministers said they will recommend to their leaders that they consider additional measures for the facilitation of goods in transit, as an effort to promote trade and the free movement of goods in the region.

The ministers reviewed the latest development of the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) which ASEAN has been attempting to establish, linking ASEAN's seven members with Asian's economic giants Japan, South Korea and China.

"The concept of the EAEC has not yet been accepted by certain countries, but there is increasing acceptance of the concept and the rationale for the establishment of the caucus," Alatas said.

"We hope that one day, the EAEC will be seen as a good idea by all," he said, adding that the caucus would not destabilize the mechanisms within the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The ministers also announced their full support for Vietnam's request for admission into the APEC forum.

The proposal of unifying ASEAN members under a single time zone was also discussed by the ministers. In the end they agreed that it should be looked into by a working group.

On functional cooperation, ministers agreed the necessity for boosting cooperation in this area, and defined a theme of "shared prosperity through human development, technological competitiveness, and social cohesiveness".

The ministers further called on respective member states to plan and organize year-long activities beginning Aug. 8 to commemorate ASEAN's 30th anniversary. (pwn/mds)

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