Fifty years ago, Asian and African leaders launched a movement that aimed to give weaker countries a unified voice in a world becoming dominated by Cold War giants.
As their successors gather this week to commemorate that mission, they face a new reality: some of their number are now among the world's most powerful nations -- and they have spats of their own.
The escalating row between China and Japan is threatening to overshadow a four-day meeting of Asian and African countries in Indonesia to celebrate a similar historic meeting in 1955 that led to the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement.
PHOTO: AFP
The meeting also comes as nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan inch forward in their attempts to resolve their decades-old dispute over Kashmir, as Asian countries struggle to bring North Korea back to negotiations on its nuclear programs, and as Southeast Asian countries press Myanmar for greater democratization.
Indonesia and South Africa, co-hosts of the meeting which starts with senior officials' talks today, say it aims to forge a new strategic partnership between the continents, and that disputes between individual nations will not be discussed.
But officials say Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Although neither China nor Japan became a member of the non-aligned movement, representatives of both nations participated in the original Bandung meeting and their leaders have been invited to the commemorative summit.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was expected to give a speech to the summit tomorrow before holding bilateral talks with several leaders.
More than 80 countries representing more than half the world's population have confirmed their participation at the conference, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said. Nearly 50 heads of state or government will lead delegations, including kings, presidents and prime ministers.
In addition to Koizumi and Hu, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Myanmar's General Than Shwe are expected to attend.
The military government of Myanmar, also know as Burma, is under increasing international pressure to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and grant greater political freedom.
The event will conclude with a ceremonial visit to the city of Bandung, 150km southwest of Jakarta, where the conference that gave rise to non-alignment was held in 1955.
"At Bandung ... we fought against colonialism to be independent. It was about justice," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday while greeting his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki. "Now we are facing the same challenges, it is about global justice, poverty and underdevelopment."
Another significant meeting that could be held on the summit's sidelines is that between North Korea's No. 2 leader, Kim Yong-nam and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.
Although the South Korean prime minister's office said there were no plans for a meeting, intense diplomatic efforts have been under way to restart international talks seeking to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Annan is expected to brief participants of the Jakarta conference on his plan to overhaul the UN and bring more transparency in what would be the biggest changes in its 60-year history.
Participants representing 4.6 billion people on the two continents are expected to reaffirm the principles enshrined by the 29 signatories of the 1955 Bandung Declaration -- including non-use of force in international relations, sovereignty of nations and self-determination.
The original Asian-African format was later expanded to include European and South American nations, giving rise to the non-aligned movement.
The movement still has 116 members.
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