Posted on Irish Examiner
Asia’s key annual security meeting opens this week amid the backdrop of North Korea’s nuclear threat and increasing regional frustration over Myanmar’s failure to restore democracy.
France, meanwhile, will sign a friendship treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose 10-member nations gathered today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s biggest city, to prepare for the annual gathering of their foreign ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was also expected to attend the regional meeting on Thursday, her first visit to the annual conference in three years.
For Washington and ASEAN, the issue of member Myanmar’s failure to restore democracy and to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been building for years.
“ASEAN has a lot of other things to do…almost 99% are other than Myanmar, but now Myanmar seems to be always there and clouding the other issues out of the way,” ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency.
The ministerial meeting will be followed by a series of parleys culminating on Friday in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the region’s biggest security grouping, which brings together friends and foes, including the US, North Korea, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Australia, a total of 25 nations and the European Union.
In the lead-up to this year’s meeting, momentum has been building for ASEAN to host six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear impasse on the sidelines of the conference, which will include all the negotiators on the stand-off: the two Koreas, the US, Japan, China and Russia.
“If we could have a six-party meeting in Kuala Lumpur, I would be very happy to attend,” Rice said during a discussion with five Asian journalists in Washington on Friday, as reported by Bernama.
The talks are aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program in return for aid, trade and security guarantees, but negotiations stalled in November when Pyongyang refused to attend the discussions in protest over US allegations that the regime had engaged in illicit financial activity.
In her comments on Friday, Rice blasted North Korea as “a completely irresponsible state and very dangerous”.
Malaysia has said it is willing to host the talks, but it is not clear if North Korea would attend.
Military-ruled Myanmar will also be under the spotlight for refusing to hand over power to a civilian government, defying international pressure and snubbing friendly prodding from fellow ASEAN members to change its ways.
In a pointed reference to the increasing embarrassment Myanmar has become to fellow ASEAN members, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hami last week said the regional grouping “has reached a stage where it is not possible to defend its member when that member is not making an attempt to cooperate or help itself”.
Myanmar’s actions, including the continued house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have prompted increasing pressure on the regime from the US and Europe.
The US wants to refer Myanmar to the UN Security Council, while ASEAN has remained reluctant, although public opinion has begun to shift.
“It’s time for the Security Council to sit up and take issue with the regime,” said Djoko Susilo, an Indonesian lawmaker and member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus, which held a meeting on Friday.
“We cannot tolerate any more the situation in Myanmar. It’s endangering the peace and stability in ASEAN,” he said.
Myanmar’s junta took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. It called elections in 1990 but decided not to hand over the government when Suu Kyi’s party won. It claims to be working on a road map to democracy but has show no tangible results.
Malaysian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Rastam Isa said that the ASEAN meeting will also issue a statement on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but the wording was still being drafted.
“We feel this is necessary because it is a matter of international interest,” Rastam said.
The meeting will also discuss regional counter-terrorism actions, energy cooperation and progress on drafting an ASEAN charter, or constitution, said MC Abad of the ASEAN secretariat.
France will sign a non-aggression pact with ASEAN during the meeting. Although of little practical value as France has no strategic interests in the region, it is a reflection of Paris’ desire to engage ASEAN more aggressively.
The 10 ASEAN countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Its dialogue partners in the ARF are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, East Timor, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
France, meanwhile, will sign a friendship treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose 10-member nations gathered today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s biggest city, to prepare for the annual gathering of their foreign ministers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was also expected to attend the regional meeting on Thursday, her first visit to the annual conference in three years.
For Washington and ASEAN, the issue of member Myanmar’s failure to restore democracy and to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been building for years.
“ASEAN has a lot of other things to do…almost 99% are other than Myanmar, but now Myanmar seems to be always there and clouding the other issues out of the way,” ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s Bernama news agency.
The ministerial meeting will be followed by a series of parleys culminating on Friday in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the region’s biggest security grouping, which brings together friends and foes, including the US, North Korea, South Korea, India, Pakistan and Australia, a total of 25 nations and the European Union.
In the lead-up to this year’s meeting, momentum has been building for ASEAN to host six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear impasse on the sidelines of the conference, which will include all the negotiators on the stand-off: the two Koreas, the US, Japan, China and Russia.
“If we could have a six-party meeting in Kuala Lumpur, I would be very happy to attend,” Rice said during a discussion with five Asian journalists in Washington on Friday, as reported by Bernama.
The talks are aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program in return for aid, trade and security guarantees, but negotiations stalled in November when Pyongyang refused to attend the discussions in protest over US allegations that the regime had engaged in illicit financial activity.
In her comments on Friday, Rice blasted North Korea as “a completely irresponsible state and very dangerous”.
Malaysia has said it is willing to host the talks, but it is not clear if North Korea would attend.
Military-ruled Myanmar will also be under the spotlight for refusing to hand over power to a civilian government, defying international pressure and snubbing friendly prodding from fellow ASEAN members to change its ways.
In a pointed reference to the increasing embarrassment Myanmar has become to fellow ASEAN members, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hami last week said the regional grouping “has reached a stage where it is not possible to defend its member when that member is not making an attempt to cooperate or help itself”.
Myanmar’s actions, including the continued house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have prompted increasing pressure on the regime from the US and Europe.
The US wants to refer Myanmar to the UN Security Council, while ASEAN has remained reluctant, although public opinion has begun to shift.
“It’s time for the Security Council to sit up and take issue with the regime,” said Djoko Susilo, an Indonesian lawmaker and member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus, which held a meeting on Friday.
“We cannot tolerate any more the situation in Myanmar. It’s endangering the peace and stability in ASEAN,” he said.
Myanmar’s junta took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. It called elections in 1990 but decided not to hand over the government when Suu Kyi’s party won. It claims to be working on a road map to democracy but has show no tangible results.
Malaysian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Rastam Isa said that the ASEAN meeting will also issue a statement on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but the wording was still being drafted.
“We feel this is necessary because it is a matter of international interest,” Rastam said.
The meeting will also discuss regional counter-terrorism actions, energy cooperation and progress on drafting an ASEAN charter, or constitution, said MC Abad of the ASEAN secretariat.
France will sign a non-aggression pact with ASEAN during the meeting. Although of little practical value as France has no strategic interests in the region, it is a reflection of Paris’ desire to engage ASEAN more aggressively.
The 10 ASEAN countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Its dialogue partners in the ARF are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, East Timor, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
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