By Li Hongmei
Concerns that seething disputes could escalate over the South China Sea and the anxiety over nuclear threats by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are expected to steal some spotlight from economic issues in the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), being held Wednesday and Thursday in Brunei's capital of Bandar Seri Begawan.
The 10-nation bloc is scrambling to beat a deadline to transform the strikingly diverse region of 600 million people into a European Union-like community by the end of 2015.
A pre-summit meeting by ASEAN foreign ministers in Brunei two weeks ago was dominated by concerns over island disputes and Korean crisis, yielding no tangible fruit, but raising curtain for the 22nd ASEAN Summit, scheduled on April 24-25.
The FMs also explored efforts to accomplish the ASEAN Community by 2015. ASEAN Community was a goal set about six years ago to turn ASEAN into a competitive, single market.
On South China Sea, they emphasized the importance of maintaining stability and cooperation to strengthen security and that territorial disputes should be resolved according to international law.
As expected, the territorial issue has somewhat threatened ASEAN's unity. Cambodia refused to have the issue mentioned in a post-ministerial statement when it hosted the meetings last year. That drew protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.
China has steadfastly refused to bring the disputes to the international arena, preferring to negotiate one on one with each rival claimant. It has also warned Washington not to intervene in the regional disputes.
Meanwhile, ASEAN members also fret about the fallout on regional peace and stability caused by the recent report of an underground nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The Chairman of ASEAN, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that ASEAN encourages the DPRK to comply fully with its obligations to all the relevant United Nations Security Councils, and to its commitments under the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks. In doing so, ASEAN reaffirms its full support for all efforts to bring about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks.
ASEAN futher emphasized on the importance of the dialogue, which aimed at promoting mutual understanding and confidence among all parties concerned with ensuring peace, security and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
ASEAN is chaired by Brunei this year and consists of Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar.
Brunei's leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, has separately met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama ahead of this week's summit. Last week, Bolkiah flew to Manila, partly to discuss the summit agenda with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
