(Kyodo) - A decade-old treaty banning nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia has brought "order" and "calmness" to the region despite criticism it is only good on paper, ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said Friday.
"The treaty has brought about a certain order of things. Without this treaty, we could be worse off," Ong said on the sidelines of a senior officials meetings in Manila ahead of the annual meetings of ASEAN foreign ministers beginning Sunday.
"Although we don't get everything we want in the treaty, there is a certain calmness and there is a certain way by which we conduct ourselves" because of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty, he added.
The nuclear weapon-free zone treaty, which was signed by 10 Southeast Asian leaders in Bangkok in 1995, took effect in 1997 and is up for review this year as mandated by its bylaws.
The treaty binds the members not to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor to station or transport nuclear weapons by any means.
The protocol is open to be signed by the five nuclear powers --the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China.
The five so-called nuclear states will be present at Tuesday's ASEAN Regional Forum, the top security bloc in the Asia-Pacific region, with the European Union representing the interests of Britain and France.
The 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will review the treaty and adopt the plan of action that would determine its direction for the next decade.
The plan includes collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency and calls for respect of the treaty to parties that have yet to sign the treaty.
"All the nuclear powers should accede to the treaty. We want a nuclear weapons-free zone," said Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
But Ong appears not to be not in a hurry to persuade the five-country bloc to accede to the treaty.
"We believe that whatever we do in ASEAN has a certain value. If people don't subscribe to that value and want to take their own time to think about it, fine," he said.
The United States and China have said they cannot sign the treaty in its present form, mainly because of the protocol's inclusion of continental shelves and exclusive economic zones, stretching up to 200 nautical miles from the land of signatory states.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
"The treaty has brought about a certain order of things. Without this treaty, we could be worse off," Ong said on the sidelines of a senior officials meetings in Manila ahead of the annual meetings of ASEAN foreign ministers beginning Sunday.
"Although we don't get everything we want in the treaty, there is a certain calmness and there is a certain way by which we conduct ourselves" because of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty, he added.
The nuclear weapon-free zone treaty, which was signed by 10 Southeast Asian leaders in Bangkok in 1995, took effect in 1997 and is up for review this year as mandated by its bylaws.
The treaty binds the members not to develop, manufacture, acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons, nor to station or transport nuclear weapons by any means.
The protocol is open to be signed by the five nuclear powers --the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China.
The five so-called nuclear states will be present at Tuesday's ASEAN Regional Forum, the top security bloc in the Asia-Pacific region, with the European Union representing the interests of Britain and France.
The 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will review the treaty and adopt the plan of action that would determine its direction for the next decade.
The plan includes collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency and calls for respect of the treaty to parties that have yet to sign the treaty.
"All the nuclear powers should accede to the treaty. We want a nuclear weapons-free zone," said Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
But Ong appears not to be not in a hurry to persuade the five-country bloc to accede to the treaty.
"We believe that whatever we do in ASEAN has a certain value. If people don't subscribe to that value and want to take their own time to think about it, fine," he said.
The United States and China have said they cannot sign the treaty in its present form, mainly because of the protocol's inclusion of continental shelves and exclusive economic zones, stretching up to 200 nautical miles from the land of signatory states.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
1 comment:
Fuck the nuclear-free zone treaty!
I mean everybody has the know how to build a civilian nuclear technology and now they want to shut Cambodia out! Hell no!
Cambodia needs civilian nuclear technology too!
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