Security tops agenda for ASEAN ministers meeting

Security tops agenda for ASEAN ministers meeting

Tini Tran Associated Press Halong Bay, Vietnam

Regional security concerns, including tensions over an upcoming Taiwanese referendum and the Korean nuclear crisis, dominated talks as Southeast Asian foreign ministers met Thursday at the picturesque Ha Long Bay.

After discussions that ran nearly five hours, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said that ministers expressed concerns over Taiwan's first island-wide referendum, set for March 20, which has sparked China's fears that it could lead to an independence vote.

"We emphasized the need to avoid an action that may further exacerbate the situation, namely the referendum," Hassan said.

"ASEAN countries have strong interest in the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in particular and the regions. In this regard, ASEAN countries reaffirm their adherence to the 'one China' policy," he said.

The informal summit at Halong Bay, 150 kilometers northeast of Hanoi, brought together foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The group also discussed the Korean nuclear crisis, saying they were encouraged by last week's six-nation talks in Beijing over defusing the standoff.

"We hope that the momentum toward finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue of North Korea could be settled through peaceful means," Hassan said.

Among other issues discussed was the creation of a regional peacekeeping force, proposed last month by Indonesia as part of a broader Southeast Asian peacekeeping plan.

The plan also calls for an extradition treaty, a nonaggression treaty and a human rights commission to address potential abuses in the battle against terror.

Hassan said talks would continue on the creation of a regional security community, downplaying specifics on a peacekeeping force.

"This is only one activity of so many activities that were defined in the Plan of Action on the Security Community," he said, adding that ministers have tasked senior officials to discuss its concepts further.

Earlier Singaporean Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar, who said he has spoken informally with some of his counterparts, expressed reservations about a regional peacekeeping force.

"Singapore's view is that, for the time being, a peacekeeping force idea is not the right time now, precisely because ASEAN is not a security or defense organization. Perhaps some time in the future, there may be scope for this," he said.

ASEAN countries have traditionally maintained a policy of noninterference in each other's domestic matters. Members' cooperation has also been hampered by contrasting political systems.

However, since the October 2002 terrorist bombings on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, ASEAN has been under pressure to build on the regional cooperation that led to the arrests of those responsible for the attack, which killed 202 people.

The improved regional cooperation has also been credited with crippling the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group, blamed for the Bali bombings and for the August 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, which claimed 12 lives.