U.S. objects to ASEAN nuclear treaty

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Efforts to lobby major superpowers into signing the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone treaty are at a standstill as nuclear weapon states, particularly the United States, continue to demand changes to the treaty's protocol.

Arizal Effendi, the director of international agreements at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said after discussing the issue with delegates from several states here that there was still no progress and that further consultations were needed.

Separately, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Winston Lord, told journalists that "we have made very clear to them we do have some problems with the treaty before we can sign on to it."

Discussions of the treaty were held on the sidelines as delegates from member states of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) gathered for yesterday's senior officials meeting.

The ARF, established by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a consultative security forum, is comprised of 19 members including nuclear powers China, Russia and the United States.

Lord maintained that the United States is comfortable with the principal of nuclear weapons free zones and said that the U.S. has acceded to similar treaties in other regions. "However, this particular one in Southeast Asia has elements to it that are not present in the other treaties."

"We would have some problems in the text in the way it is now," he added.

ASEAN leaders during the summit meeting in Bangkok in December signed a treaty promising not to use, produce or stockpile nuclear weapons. They have also asked that nuclear weapon states sign the protocol to the treaty.

According to several delegates here, the main objections came from the U.S. while other states such as Britain, China, France and Russia only had minor concerns.

Lord said it was not just the U.S. who had these concerns.

These concerns relate to the "negative security assurances" in which nuclear weapons states promise not to use nuclear weapons against other non-nuclear states.

Other concerns include the manner in which the zone itself is defined, which includes exclusive economic zones and continental shelves. "These are significant questions that must be resolved," Lord said.(mds)