MYANMAR, NORTH KOREA IN FOCUS AS ASEAN
MEET STARTS
[PHOTO - Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN
Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, far right, holds hands with ASEAN foreign
ministers in traditional group photo session at the start of their meeting in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia Monday, April 2, 2012. The ministers are from left, Wunna
Maung Lwin of Myanmar, K. Shanmugam of Singapore, Surapong Tovichakchaikul of Thailand, Pham Bihn Minh of Vietnam, Hor Namhong of Cambodia, Lim Jock Seng of Brunei, Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia, Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos, Anifah Aman of Malaysia. AP Photo/Apichart
Weerawong]
PHNOM PENH, APRIL 3, 2012 (INQUIRER) Agence France-Presse - Southeast
Asian leaders met Tuesday for an annual summit set to be dominated by Myanmar's
historic reforms, North Korea's planned rocket launch and strategic maritime
disputes with China.
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
convened in the Cambodian capital two days after by-elections in Myanmar saw
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi win her first seat in parliament.
Election monitors from Cambodia, which holds the Asean chair, have declared
Sunday's vote free and fair, and urged the West to lift sanctions imposed over
the Myanmar military's long record of rights abuses.
Asean foreign ministers applauded the "orderly" conduct of the polls during
talks in Phnom Penh on Monday, setting the stage for a strong endorsement from
the bloc's leaders at Wednesday's conclusion of the two-day summit.
Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said the vote should contribute to the
"reintegration of Myanmar into the global community", a reference to the
possible lifting of sanctions.
Myanmar's human rights abuses and iron-fisted suppression of political
dissent have often hijacked Asean gatherings in the past, much to the
embarrassment of more democratic member-states.
But over the past 12 months the country's quasi-civilian government, led by
President Thein Sein, has freed hundreds of political prisoners, eased media
restrictions and welcomed the opposition back to the political fold.
At the last Asean summit in November, the country was rewarded for its
efforts by being promised the bloc's chairmanship in 2014. Myanmar is eager too
to win greater foreign investment with the prospect of sanctions being lifted.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — a grouping of nearly 600 million
people from disparate economic and political systems.
The bloc has often been dismissed as a talking shop but it has assumed new
strategic importance in light of Washington's foreign policy "pivot" to Asia and
the economic rise of China in recent years.
North Korea's planned rocket launch — described by Pyongyang as a bid to send
a satellite into orbit but condemned by the United States and its allies as a
thinly disguised missile test — is also looming over the Cambodia summit.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Asean foreign
ministers spoke with one voice against the nuclear-armed North's launch plans.
The Philippines — which lies beneath the rocket's proposed flight path — has
lodged formal protests with Pyongyang's representatives at the United Nations,
in China and at Asean.
"I think the countries that spoke on the topic… were all of the opinion that
we should be discouraging [North Korea] from undertaking that launch," Del
Rosario said after the foreign ministers' meeting on Monday.
Regional tensions with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea are
another vexing issue for the Asean leaders, diplomats said.
China has competing territorial claims in the sea with Asean members Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The United States says it has a "national
interest" in keeping the vital trade route open to shipping.
The sea is a conduit for more than one-third of the world's maritime trade
and half its traffic in oil and gas, and major petroleum deposits are believed
to lie below the seabed.
US ally the Philippines has been leading a push for Asean to form a united
front and present China with a binding "code of conduct" in the sea, but other
members argue that Beijing should be involved from the start.
There are also differences over the "internationalisation" of the rival
claims, with Cambodia insisting they are matters for quiet diplomacy between
Asean and China but the Philippines asserting the primacy of international law.
Cambodia will now be 3 hours away from Philippines
By Christine O. Avendaño Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:55 am | Tuesday, April
3rd, 2012
[PHOTO - The Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Province PHOTO
CONTRIBUTED BY TETET TORALBA. Siem Reap (Khmer: ក្រុងសៀមរាប) is the
capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and is the gateway
to Angkor region. PHNO]
PHNOM PENH—Beginning this month, Cambodia will be less than three hours away,
thanks to direct flights that will be leaving Manila three times a week.
With Cebu Pacific airline offering direct flights from Manila to Siem Reap
and back every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday starting April 19, expect an influx
of more investors from both countries and the development of tourism, according
to Philippine Ambassador to Cambodia Noe Wong.
The ambassador said the special air services agreement between the two
nations was a result of discussions by the Joint Conference for Bilateral
Cooperation held in December last year, the first in 10 years.
"We are trying to hasten..the signing of the existing memorandum of agreement
on special air services…scheduled after the Asean summit before the end of
April,'' Wong said in an interview with Radio-Television Malacañang.
"This is a big thing for Filipinos here and also for Cambodia (as) it will
pave the way for Cambodia to really appreciate what the Philippines is..in terms
of tourism and development,'' Wong said. "(The air agreement) would also "hasten
the influx of investors from both countries,'' he added.
Among the Philippine products being marketed in Cambodia are those of San
Miguel Corp., Pure foods and United Laboratories. Mega sardines are also being
sold here, Wong said.
According to the Cebu Pacific website, Cambodia-bound flights are scheduled
to depart Manila at 7:50 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, arriving at
Siem Reap at 9:30 p.m. (Cambodia time is one hour behind.). Return flights will
leave Siem Reap at 10:30 p.m. on the same days, and arrive in Manila at 2:10
a.m. the following day.
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
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