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Hanoi (AFP) Oct 28, 2010 Southeast Asian leaders tackled issues buffeting the region, including currency tensions, territorial disputes and Myanmar's flawed election plans, at a summit in Vietnam's capital Thursday. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting is also taking place against a backdrop of increasingly assertive behaviour by China which has put the region on edge. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that evening talks had centered around regional issues including overlapping claims in the strategic and resource-rich waters of the South China Sea. "All of us recognise that the peace and stability in our region is precious and therefore disputes on the South China Sea must be resolved peacefully, must be resolved through diplomacy and must be resolved in accordance with the applicable international law," he told reporters. The United States and Southeast Asian countries are concerned over China's newly muscular approach to maritime sovereignty in the South China Sea, where several regional nations have competing claims. In an afternoon retreat, the 10 leaders worked on ambitious plans to bind their nations and 580 million people into a community with close economic and political ties. They also tackled the global "currency wars" that threaten to destabilise their emerging economies by sending exchange rates shooting up and inviting a flood of foreign capital. "They discussed... investment flows, about the pace of development... about the situation in the global markets that might not be conducive," said ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan. But their work was again overshadowed by pariah member Myanmar, which is preparing to hold polls on November 7 that have been derided as a sham because they exclude detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The leaders are expected to have quizzed Myanmar, whose foreign minister Nyan Win attempted to deflect a barrage of complaints in Hanoi by saying that Suu Kyi may be released soon after the vote. "We were told that she will have completed her term of imprisonment by the first 10 days, probably, after the elections," Pitsuwan said. "We were told that there will be no more reason to keep her in house arrest. But for that we will have to wait. It was not a clear-cut commitment," he said. Authorities in Myanmar have previously told AFP that the democracy leader will be released when her current term of house arrest expires on November 13, but the military state has made no official confirmation. There was a cautious response to the comments from a regime that has kept Suu Kyi detained for 15 of the past 21 years, and which in the past has set her free only to produce new charges to justify a return to detention. "No, I'm not satisfied," Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said. "Not only an assurance but I want it to happen, that no new charges will be filed," he said in unusually strong comments. The gathering of the ASEAN bloc shifts gear Saturday when it widens into the 16-nation East Asia Summit, also taking in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. There are hopes for talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan to smooth the two rivals' worst diplomatic row in years, centred on a disputed East China Sea island chain. A Friday meeting between the economic ministers of Japan, China and South Korea was cancelled, casting doubt over the two leaders' talks, but the scheduling of talks between their foreign ministers again boosted the chances. "This can be one step in creating a direction towards a summit between the Japanese and Chinese prime ministers," an official in the Japanese delegation told AFP. The two foreign ministers will meet at 0130 GMT Friday, and the official said a bilateral summit could take place the same morning or on Saturday. Tokyo has accused Beijing of using its near-global monopoly on the trade in rare earths, minerals vital to high-tech manufacturers, as a weapon in the row triggered by the arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain in disputed waters.
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China says rare earths not a 'bargaining tool'Beijing (AFP) Oct 28, 2010 China will not use its near-global monopoly on the rare earths trade as a "bargaining tool", an industry ministry spokesman said Thursday, amid a row with Japan over the vital minerals. The comments came as Japanese media reported that China had cancelled a meeting of the economic ministers of Japan, China and South Korea due to the spat over its export restrictions on rare earths, which are ... read more |
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