Asian leaders began arriving yesterday for a summit in the Islamic sultanate of Brunei as strains start to show over support for the US bombing of Afghanistan.
The centerpiece of the ASEAN summit is a declaration of support for the war on terror and a commitment to coordinate ASEAN's anti-terrorist efforts.
But the group is divided over the US bombing of Afghanistan and a summit declaration ducks any reference to it.
"Some ASEAN members are strongly aligned to the US and prefer to keep silent, while for instance Malaysia and Indonesia have already voiced their opposition to military action," a Malaysian official was quoted as saying by the Malaysian news agency Bernama.
The official said some countries were cautious about offending Washington.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, and mostly Muslim Malaysia have already said the bombing of Afghanistan should stop and will seek backing within ASEAN.
"We urge for a humanitarian pause. We have to be attentive to the problem of civilian sufferings," said Makarim Wibisono, head of foreign and economic relations at the Indonesian foreign ministry.
ASEAN begins its two-day annual summit today, along with the leaders of north Asian neighbors China, Japan and Korea, as civilian casualties in Afghanistan mount and with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan less than two weeks away.
ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino said the organization's message was that it opposed terrorism in all its forms and was determined to take measures to combat it.
But the declaration would contain no reference to Afghanistan.
"What is happening in Afghanistan is not part of the declaration because the declaration that the leaders may issue will be about ASEAN cooperation in combating [terrorism], especially in this area," Severino said.
Indonesia's Wibisono said Afghanistan would be discussed on the sidelines as the continued US bombings could alienate moderate Muslim states and jeopardize the global coalition against terrorism.
"The issue is being handled through the lobbies but not at the meeting proper," Wibisono said. "It will not be reflected in the final document.
"This question of sensitivity to that issue is essential because it will [be needed to] guarantee the cohesiveness of an international coalition to combat terrorism."
ASEAN's broad commitment to Washington's campaign against terrorism echoes the pledge these same leaders made at the bigger Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Shanghai last month, but its focus will be how to counter cross-border militancy in the region.
The wording of the declaration is still being worked on, as some countries, such as Indonesia, want a binding convention ratified by national parliaments to cement coordination between the security and defense forces of the ten nations.
Indonesia and the Philippines are fighting separatist movements and in the past three months Malaysia has locked up supporters of an opposition Muslim fundamentalist party on suspicion of belonging to an Afghan-inspired militant group.
The governments have raised the spectre of links between militant groups in the three countries.
"Terrorism in Southeast Asia has a transnational dimension," Severino said.
"In the summit, they will be looking at specific measures to deal with terrorism, perhaps the financial resources of terrorists, in terms of exchange of intelligence and border control," he said.
The summit will also address how to counter an economic slowdown and the long-term goal of linking the infant ASEAN Free Trade Area with the emerging power of the Chinese economy. It will also examine the fight against AIDS, which has already infected an estimated 1.6 million of the region's half a billion people.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique