ASEAN and the East Asian union

[montag]

ASEAN moves closer to human rights watch

SOUTH-EAST Asian foreign ministers have overcome their differences on setting up a human rights commission after military-ruled Burma dropped objections to the plan.

The issue had created a rift in the Association of South-East Asian Nations and threatened to divert attention from the group's efforts at economic integration.

"We have agreed to create the human rights body," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said after the first session of an ASEAN ministerial meeting in the Philippine capital yesterday.

The human rights commission is an integral part of a charter that ASEAN is trying to complete before a leaders' summit in November. Until yesterday, diplomats had said that Burma and some other countries had blocked the establishment of the commission.

But other problems confront ASEAN over Burma. The European Union, which ASEAN hopes to emulate, and the US have criticised it for failing to bring enough pressure on Burma to restore democracy and free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Earlier, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called for unity in the region and a focus on its goal of economic integration by 2015.

"An ASEAN community is going to be anchored first and foremost on economic integration, with a focus on social justice and raising the standard of living in the region," she said. "Too much has been made of our diversity as a barrier. Our diversity is a strength and not a barrier to an East Asian union."

REUTERS (http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/asean-moves-closer-to-human-rights-watch/2007/07/30/1185647823959.html)

[montag]

ASEAN map

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8027/seamapig5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-31

Flag

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5297/aseanog5.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-07-31

[montag]

Australia-Asia relationship 'healthy'

Australia's relationship with Asia has blossomed, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says.

Mr Downer is in Manila for a series of meetings with his regional counterparts ahead of the key security meeting, the ASEAN Regional Forum, on Thursday.

He is signing a document formalising Australia's relationship with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, later on Wednesday.

"I think in the last decade or so this is a relationship which has really blossomed, it's gone from strength to strength," Mr Downer said.

"It reminds me that today Australia fits very naturally into the Asian region in ways that decades ago we kind of struggled with.

"It used to be a debate in Australia. Today it's not even debated any more."

He said the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Australia Cooperative Partnership was a largely symbolic agreement.

Australia already has a counter-terrorism agreement with ASEAN and enjoys a solid economic relationship with member states. Australia also provides $850 million annually in aid, he said.

"It's a symbolic agreement, a lot of these things are happening already ... and I think the symbolism, in terms of Australia's relations with ASEAN and Asia more generally, is important."

Negotiations over a free trade agreement between Australia and New Zealand with ASEAN were continuing in Perth this week, in the hope of a deal by year's end, he said.

"We are going to try and conclude it by the end of the year," Mr Downer said, adding that Australia's focus was on the services and agricultural sectors.

He said he'd also raised the upcoming APEC summit with several of his counterparts, particularly the need to reach agreement on climate change during the forum in Sydney in September.

"If we can get 21 economies to agree to a commitment ... to deal with the issue of climate change ... I think that will be a very important contribution to making sure we get some sort of agreement through the UN process (in Bali in December) as well," he said.

"The view in developing countries is that climate change is a real issue.

"I think that's something that has changed really through the course of this year."

© 2007 AAP (http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/AustraliaAsia-relationship-healthy/2007/08/01/1185647963810.html)

[montag]

EU ‘fascinated’ by ASEAN plan to create single market

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 08:34pm (Mla time) 08/01/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Wednesday welcomed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ plan to create a single market by 2015, five years earlier than its original target of 2020.

“ASEAN is important to us,” Solana said at the bilateral ASEAN-EU meeting during the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference in Manila. “What you continue to do in this period of time is fascinating and we follow with greatest interest the development of ASEAN and looking forward to 2015.”

“We think it is very important not only for ASEAN but for the region and the world,” he said of the plan for a single market similar to EU.

EU also seeks to strengthen relationship with ASEAN at the political level through its accession to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), said Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

“Beyond the economic relationship (of EU-ASEAN) which is very profound, I think we have also started to talk about politics and how we will look with the same eyes at important events that have taken place in the world,” he said of EU’s desire to accede to the TAC.

As of now, ASEAN only allows individual states to accede to the treaty that seeks to prevent military aggression in the region. ASEAN has allowed non-Asian countries to sign the treaty, but has yet to adopt the third protocol that would allow regional blocs like EU to accede to the treaty.

“We will be very happy to have that (third protocol) to have that finalized as soon as possible because we want to have a very deep relation with you,” he said.

The EU has proposed to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement with ASEAN within two years so that trade and investments between the two biggest regional blocs are facilitated. The two parties have formally launched negotiations for the EU-ASEAN free trade agreement last May at the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Brunei.

However, the EU wanted to exclude least developed countries in ASEAN (Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam) in the proposed FTA by not requiring them to make trade commitments. ASEAN leaders have yet to deliberate on this EU proposal, but Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar hinted that these countries should be included in any ASEAN endeavor as full negotiating partners.

EU is the second largest export market and third largest trading partner of ASEAN countries. In 2005, EU exports to ASEAN countries were estimated at 45 billion euros, while EU imports from ASEAN were valued at 71 billion euros.

Exports of ASEAN countries to the rich European markets include machinery, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles, and clothing.

ASEAN -- which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and with its more than half a billion people -- accounts for almost 10 percent of the world's population.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=80031

[jimijams]

ASEAN leaders sign milestone charter

Sarah Stewart, Singapore
November 21, 2007


SOUTH-EAST Asian leaders have signed a landmark charter aimed at transforming their bloc into a rules-based legal entity and committing them to promote human rights and democratic ideals.

The document sets out principles and rules for the Association of South-East Asian Nations for the first time and creates a human rights body, but does not spell out what authority the body will have.

The signing ceremony, which came at the end of summit talks among the bloc's 10 leaders, took place under the shadow of a diplomatic row sparked when Burma blocked a United Nations envoy from briefing the summit.

The association has spurned calls to suspend Burma's membership over the junta's crackdown on pro-democracy protests, prompting criticism the charter was toothless.

ASEAN has instead opted for "engagement" with Burma, calling on the junta to work with the UN towards democracy and to release political detainees, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.

ASEAN barred UN envoy for Burma Ibrahim Gambari from briefing the summit, after objections from Burma's Prime Minister, Thein Sein, and other members, citing the group's policy of non-interference in each other's domestic affairs.

ASEAN officials and Filipino diplomats said China, Burma's closest ally, had also asked ASEAN to refrain from public comments on Burma.

But Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters after meeting his Burmese counterpart that Mr Gambari was a friend of Burma.

"He may say tough things, but he is also telling Aung San Suu Kyi many things," he said.

"And he has told Japan to support Myanmar (Burma) should it move in the good direction towards democratisation."

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official proved to be more blunt.

"Myanmar would completely be misinterpreting the thinking of the international community if it thinks it can cut ties with Gambari just because there are some in ASEAN that support it in opposing Gambari's attendance," the official said.

Burmese Foreign Minister U Nyan Win brushed off the criticism over Mr Gambari saying: "It's our internal affair." As for freeing Ms Suu Kyi, he said: "It is not the right time to talk about it."

After years of haggling, the 40-year-old group's charter contains a blueprint to create an EU-style, free-trade bloc, though the past year has been one of political regression.

Asked why a one-party state would sign a charter that aims to strengthen democracy, Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, underlined the charter's principles of non-interference.

"The one-party system is the choice of the Vietnamese people. I don't think there should be any imposition from any countries," he said.

While ASEAN's democratisation process has stumbled, the regional economy faces increasingly daunting challenges.

AFP, REUTERS (http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/asean-leaders-sign-milestone-charter/2007/11/20/1195321781717.html)

[john67]

Australia And New Zealand Locked Out Of New 'Asian Union' On Orders Of China


http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2007/201107_b_Union.htm