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."