Asia Times: SE Asia frowns on US missile shield plan


	July 27, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

SE Asia frowns on US missile shield plan
By Mahesh Uniyal

BANGKOK - Southeast Asian foreign ministers have ended their annual meeting here with tacit disapproval of a US plan for a missile defense umbrella for North Asia, a scheme that has upset China and Russia.

Briefing reporters of the outcome of the two-day meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, without explicity referring to the US-planned Theatre Missile Defense System, said: ''Asean in general is very much concerned about arms build-up. So any addition would be an issue of concern to us, particularly if it is being carried out in a manner that could affect confidence and would have a ripple effect.''

The same issue is expected to be raised Thursday at Asean's consultation on regional political and security issues with Asia-Pacific nations - the Asean Regional Forum (ARF). China and Russia are among the 21 members of the forum.

China has indicated it will protest against the US plan at the ARF meeting. Together with Russia, it has warned that the plan, which critics say has lost some of its rationale given North Korea's recent overtures to the outside world, will lead to a new arms race.

The issue is of special concern to Asean at a time when it is seeking engagement with former international pariah North Korea - a country against which the missile shield was originally conceived. Indeed, Surin, who was due to meet North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun Wednesday morning, said that North Korea's first-ever participation in the ARF was the highlight of the security forum this year.

The ARF is the only multilateral security forum for the region, bringing together countries from Mongolia and China to Papua New Guinea. However, the meetings are more for confidence-building dialogue than for firm security commitments. ARF groups Asean's 10 countries - Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and 12 other members: China, Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

''There is tremendous enthusiasm about this very first attendance of North Korea in the ARF,'' Surin said. He disclosed how Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia had worked secretly to engage North Korea in the past year and bring about its admission to the ARF. ''[We had to] approach gingerly, carefully, but also sincerely,'' he said.

In their communique, the Asean foreign ministers agreed that the historic June summit between the North and South Korean presidents was one of the factors that had helped improve the security environment in the region. Noting that ''peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula was crucial to the security of the region as a whole", the Asean foreign ministers hoped for speedy normalization of North Korea's ties with the rest of the world. Already, Pyongyang has forged diplomatic ties with countries in the region.

Asean ministers also agreed on a mechanism to tackle issues that affect peace and stability in Southeast Asia, an idea that has taken time to ripen in a forum whose members are cautious of anything that could end up being an intrusion into their national sovereignty. Although the decision to set up a troika of foreign ministers of the past, present and future Asean chairs was taken at the informal Asean summit in November 1999, it was this week's Bangkok meeting that ''fleshed out'' the idea, Surin said.

However, Surin was evasive when asked if the body could be effective enough to tackle internal crises of the sort troubling countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - communal, ethnic and religious clashes. According to the terms of reference for the troika, it is not a decision-making body and has been asked to ''refrain from addressing issues that constitute the internal affairs of Asean member countries''.

''I perceive the role of the chair as being much more activist, much more involved because he has this foundation to stand on. I believe it is going to be helpful and active,'' Surin said. ''I think we have to leave it to the ingenuinity, creativity and power of persuasion of the chair. We cannot write down everything.''

One of the biggest security problems now confronting Asean is the internal conflict in its biggest member, Indonesia. Backing Jakarta's stand on separatist violence in Indonesia's Aceh and Irian Jaya provinces, Asean foreign ministers ''reiterated their continuing support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of Indonesia, which includes the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya''.

The meeting also took stock of the region's response to the 1997 financial crisis and its aftermath, noting the ''continued strengthening of economic recovery in the region''. Warned on Monday by Singapore's Foreign Minister S Jayakumar that the region was still to regain international investor confidence, the Asean foreign ministers said the region's 4.6 percent growth in 1999 after a 4.4 percent contraction the preceding year was proof of the soundness of the region's economic fundamentals.

Accepting Jayakumar's advice to urgently bridge the gap between the original Asean members and the four new and more economically backward members - Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - Asean countries resolved to speed up efforts for socio-economic development in the Mekong River basin countries.

Asean foreign ministers also signed a joint declaration for a ''socially cohesive and caring Asean'', which called for people-centered development policies. They agreed to harness information technology in ways to make it relevant to the needs of the poorest. Asean ministers decided to ''concentrate on e-education, e-health and e-literacy so that people can benefit from IT more equitably'', Surin said.

(Inter Press Service)

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