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Play more meaningful role, Surin te



Subject: Play more meaningful role, Surin tells ARF

Local & Politics 

     Play more meaningful role,
     Surin tells ARF

     SINGAPORE -- Foreign Minister Surin
     Pitsuwan yesterday called on the Asean
     Regional Forum (ARF) to go beyond being a
     mere a talk shop and take on a more
     meaningful role by adopting mechanisms
     aimed at preventing disputes in the region. 

     Speaking to a foreign correspondent
     yesterday, Surin said a number of countries in
     Asean agree with Thailand that the security
     forum should expand its focus from
     ''confidence-building measures'' or CBMs to
     ''preventive diplomacy'' aimed at eliminating
     possible conflicts in the region. 

     Asean ministers issued a statement at last
     year's ARF meeting in Manila that there was
     still ''considerable scope to further develop
     and deepen cooperation on
     confidence-building measures'' but at the
     same time noted that the distinction between
     CBMs and preventive diplomacy was blurred.

     The move would make the 32-year-old
     regional bloc more active in managing
     conflicting claims, in order to prevent possible
     conflicts within the region, Surin said. 

     The foreign minister admitted however that
     there are some sceptics. ''There are some
     who feel that we are not ready enough, but
     also some who feel that we should move in
     that direction,'' he noted. 

     Nevertheless, the annual meeting remained a
     good opportunity for Asean members and
     their dialogue partners including China, the
     US, Russia and the European Union to
     explore such a possibility. 

     Surin's statement came just days after a
     Filipino gunboat sank a Chinese fishing boat
     after chasing the vessel for several hours
     around the Spratlys, a cluster of
     hotly-disputed, resource-rich islands and
     reefs in the South China Sea. 

     The incident, said Surin, has affected the
     ''mood'' of the international community which
     has a vested interest in stability in the Spratly
     area's sea lanes because of commercial
     shipping. 


     The disputed islands are claimed wholly or in
     part by the Philippines, China, Taiwan,
     Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing has
     insisted on treating the dispute bilaterally with
     the other claimants, but some Asean
     members would like to see it discussed at an
     international forum such as the ARF. 

     The Philippines and Vietnam are to propose a
     code of conduct for Spratly claimants to
     abide by, but Malaysian Deputy Foreign
     Minister Lauro Baja said that concerned
     Asean members should have a common
     position when engaging China on the matter. 

     Disputes and clashes over the Spratlys have
     long been a sour point for the regional
     grouping. 

     Surin said the bilateral agreement between
     Thailand and Malaysia on joint development
     of the previously-disputed area in the Gulf of
     Thailand could serve as a model for the
     claimants. It took the two countries over 20
     years to agree on the joint development
     scheme, enforced over a 720-square
     kilometre area. 

     Chairmanship of the ARF rotates among
     member countries. Thailand is scheduled to
     take over from current chair Singapore within
     the next few days. 

     Surin also noted that the issue of social
     safety nets are to be included on the agenda
     for the first time during the forum. 

     ''The spectres of underemployment, poverty
     and malnutrition that grip many nations are
     the seeds of instability which threaten to wipe
     away much of the progress that we have
     achieved over the past decades,'' he said. 

     Asean now covers the full complement of
     Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia,
     Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia,
     Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma
     and Laos. 

     BY DON PATHAN 

     The Nation