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.