U.S. tells Japan it opposes EAEC proposal

U.S. tells Japan it opposes EAEC proposal

SINGAPORE (Kyodo): The United States has formally informed Japan it opposes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan for an East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC), official Japanese and ASEAN sources said yesterday.

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo conveyed Washington's opposition to the EAEC proposal to the Japanese government on June 7, saying the caucus would have a negative effect on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

It marks the first time that the administration of President Bill Clinton, which has taken a wait-and-see attitude on the EAEC, has explicitly opposed the proposal.

The embassy also told Japanese officials that Thailand, which is the current chairman of ASEAN, and Brunei, as the ASEAN chairman of the U.S.-ASEAN dialogue this year, will be informed about Washington's stance.

The declaration of U.S. opposition to the caucus comes soon after ASEAN officials briefed the U.S. government during the U.S.-ASEAN dialogue meeting in Washington in May on the details of the EAEC as formulated by ASEAN in a blueprint on the EAEC concept.

According to the blueprint, the EAEC is not "a subsidiary organ of APEC but would function independently of it."

It points out that even though ASEAN agreed last year that the EAEC would function as a caucus within APEC, it is not a caucus "of" APEC.

The blueprint also says "the caucus would determine its own agenda" and "the results of the caucus' discussions need not be reported to APEC meetings unless deemed necessary."