Asian leaders arrive in Hanoi for ASEAN summit

Wed, 27 Oct 2010

Hanoi - Heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrived Wednesday in Hanoi in preparation for the organization's 17th summit, scheduled to open Thursday.

Topping the official agenda will be economic and transportation agreements intended to knit the fragmented region closer together.

The meeting is overshadowed by tensions over upcoming elections in Myanmar, and conflicts with China over maritime territory in the South China Sea. But it was not clear how much of a hearing these controversial issues would get at the summit.

Foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations met Wednesday afternoon in advance of the summit to consider a series of agreements and working papers.

One was a report from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), which has in the past been critical of human rights abuses and anti-democratic conduct in Myanmar.

A draft document prepared by the Philippine's delegation to the summit reportedly said the elections in Myanmar, scheduled for November 7, would be "a farce."

The foreign ministers also considered the final statement of the ASEAN People's Forum, a civil-society gathering in September that included groups affiliated with Myanmar's democracy movement.

But the official statement following the foreign ministers' meeting Wednesday made no mention of Myanmar. The only significant document the ministers signed was an agreement on cooperation in search-and-rescue operations in the South China Sea.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The body was long regarded as an ineffectual talk shop, but has moved in recent years to exercise more power on both economic and diplomatic fronts.

In 2007 the group adopted a binding charter, including provisions for a human rights body. But ASEAN meetings are still known for their aversion to conflict or to taking up issues that may embarrass any of the organization's member states.

The issues of Myanmar and of conflict in the South China Sea may receive a fuller airing on Saturday, when the follow-on East Asia Summit convenes. The group includes the ten ASEAN member states along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The United States and Russia have been invited to join, and will send representatives this year.

The US is sending Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been urged in recent days by human-rights advocates and US congressmen to put human rights on the summit's agenda.

In a letter Wednesday, US senator Barbara Boxer urged Clinton to demand the "immediate release" of over a dozen Vietnamese political prisoners.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/350709,arrive-hanoi-asean-summit.html.