Bandar Seri Begawan (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Security and economic and trade ties will be the focus of the discussion of the next ASEAN summit, the 22nd in the history of the association that brings together 10 countries of Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei, Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia). The summit will open tomorrow in the Sultanate of Brunei and will provide a common line on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which scuppered the previous meeting in Phnom Penh. The pressure from Beijing on the host nation Cambodia in fact prevented the definition of a binding policy for the regulation of tensions in the area.
The leaders of
ASEAN countries are calling for a "continued commitment" with Beijing
to resolve the tensions in recent years and which could result in an actual
conflict. In
statement released on the eve of the summit, the President of the assembly highlights
the aim to "reaffirm the commitment to a peaceful resolution of disputes,
without having to resort to threats or use of force."
Brunei,
the host nation, hopes to achieve a binding "code of conduct" at an
international legal level, that would resolve all the problems related to
boundaries by the end of the year. Moreover,
even the meeting of Foreign Ministers of ASEAN, held two weeks ago in
preparation for the summit, devoted much time to the territorial tensions that
see China, the Philippines, Vietnam in opposition to each other and which also
involve Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Asean leaders are
not hiding their concern over tensions on the Korean peninsula, the center of a
diplomatic and nuclear crisis between Seoul and Pyongyang. They
invite the parties to "exercise restraint and to respect their duties fully."
In
terms of economics, the summit participants will discuss incentives for trade
and investment for development. Meanwhile
work continues on the creation of a common block - in the style of the European
Union - among all Asian nations to be achieved by 2015.