Play more meaningful role, Surin tells ARF

July 22, 1999

SINGAPORE -- Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday called on the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) to go beyond being a mere 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