U.S. says not ready to accede to ASEAN non-aggression pact

U.S. says not ready to accede to ASEAN non-aggression pact

P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Washington

The United States said it has no plans to sign a non-aggression
treaty with Southeast Asia even though other big powers Russia,
China and India have become signatories to underscore security
commitment to the region.

Australia, a key U.S. ally, has also agreed to accede to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation, abandoning Canberra's option to launch preemptive
military strikes against terrorist bases in the region.

The three-decade old treaty bans signatories from using
violence to settle conflicts in the region, a key policy of
ASEAN, which was established during the height of the Cold War.

But the United States is reluctant to sign the treaty, which
is also a precondition laid down by ASEAN for those wanting to
participate in an inaugural East Asian Summit it would hold in
December.

"We have a very active and productive dialog with ASEAN on a
full range of issues," a State Department official said.

"Although we have discussed the treaty in the past, we have no
current plans to sign the agreement," he told AFP.

The official did not say why Washington is reluctant to ink
the pact but some experts believe it is due to bureaucratic
rather than strategic reasons.

The issue goes back to President Ronald Reagan's days, when
during the Cold War there was a sense that there should be no
restrictions on the free movement of U.S. forces, particularly
the navy, in East Asia, according to Marvin Ott, a professor at
National War College in the National Defense University in
Washington.

"I think what we are now seeing is pure bureaucratic inertia
due to past attitude plus an American security bureaucracy
saddled with many other things. There is, in fact, no strategic
reason why the United States should not sign the treaty," he told
AFP, speaking in a personal capacity.

ASEAN leaders have appealed to the United States on several
occasions to sign on the dotted line to reaffirm its political
and security commitment to the region.

Last month at the sidelines of the United Nations, Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the host of this
year's ASEAN Summit, said: "We would like to invite the United
States to consider acceding to the Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation (as) such a step would indeed serve as a symbol of
political commitment to the region by the United States."

The treaty "is a very important and key document in the life
of ASEAN," he said.

Aside from China, Russia and India, the other treaty
signatories are Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Australia is to do the same in December this year ahead of
taking its seat at the first East Asian summit in Kuala Lumpur
together with ASEAN's 10 members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, as well as Japan, South Korea, China, India and New
Zealand.

Australia has traditionally not favored signing the treaty but
decided to accede to it after ASEAN made it a key precondition
for attending the summit.

U.S. reluctance to sign the treaty comes despite ambitious
plans by Washington to rapidly expand ties with the region,
diplomats said.

Preparations are underway to hold the first ever summit
meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and ASEAN leaders
next year.

In addition, officials are set to begin working on a blueprint
for cooperation between ASEAN and the United States to be adopted
when they commemorate their 30th anniversary of relations in
2007.

Proposed by Washington, the "U.S.-ASEAN Enhanced Partnership"
agreement has an action plan to achieve common vision across a
full range of economic, political and security issues.

The United States is the largest trading partner for ASEAN and
a top investor in the region.