Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

ASEAN says no to US patrolling Malacca Straits

The Malacca Straits, with Indonesia to the south, Singapore to the north, and Malaysia on both sides farther to the east, is the busiest shipping lane in the world -- 50,000 ships a year, including tankers carrying half of the world's oil supply and all of the oil consumed by Japan -- thus considered vulnerable to terrorist attack, especially since pirates already abound in those waters and since both Indonesia and Malaysia have radical anti-Western elements.

Given the strategic importance of the corridor the United States has offered to patrol the Straits.

Indonesia and Malaysia have radical anti-Western elements. More than 15,000 Saudi Arabian students will soon be studying in Malaysia. In the past Saudi students have been suspected of terrorism.
#msg-3460827

Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to step up activities that can boost trade and investment between both countries, including private sector joint ventures for projects in third countries, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/20040701074352/Article/indexb_html

Asia in uniting to counteract U.S. hegemony risks being dominated by club member China.

Nest year is to include Russia in the first-ever Russia-ASEAN summit to be held in Malaysia in 2005. Putin is invited, Bush is not.




-Am


ASEAN ministers pledge closer ties with northern neighbors

4:08 PM HST Wednesday
The 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting has ended in Jakarta with agreement that the countries of Southeast Asia will strengthen their trade and security relations China, Japan and Korea.


"An East Asian Community is a long-term objective for East Asian cooperation to be developed through the existing ASEAN+3 mechanisms," ASEAN ministers said in a joint communique at the end of the meeting Thursday.

Since ASEAN nations already meet annually with China, Japan and Korea, and have diplomatic ties, it was unclear whether "long-term" means that anything further will be undertaken soon. But ministers attending the conference told western media that there was fairly broad support for Indonesian initiatives for Asia-Pacific nations to work more closely together to fend off terrorist attacks.

The Thai minister said one idea that definitely didn't fly was the immediate creation of an ASEAN peacekeeping force. But no serious objections were raised to the idea of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore stepping up their individual patrols of the Malacca Straits, especially if doing so satisfies the United States, which had offered to do the same. Officials in all three countries indicated that they would rather do it themselves than accept a greater U.S. military presence.

The Malacca Straits, with Indonesia to the south, Singapore to the north, and Malaysia on both sides farther to the east, is the busiest shipping lane in the world -- 50,000 ships a year, including tankers carrying half of the world's oil supply and all of the oil consumed by Japan -- thus considered vulnerable to terrorist attack, especially since pirates already abound in those waters and since both Indonesia and Malaysia have radical anti-Western elements.

Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia announced Thursday they each plan to deploy five to seven small warships in the straits.

"We don't want outside forces having a role in the Straits of Malacca," said Adm. Mohammad Anwar Nor of the Malaysian Navy.

The International Maritime Bureau says about a fifth of the more than 400 pirate attacks annually take place in those waters.

© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/06/28/daily41.html




First-ever Russia-ASEAN summit to be held in Malaysia in 2005
July 02, 2004 Posted: 09:24 Moscow time (05:24 GMT)


Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. (Yandex)

MOSCOW - The first-ever Russia-ASEAN summit can be held in Malaysia in 2005, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists.

"The initiative to hold a Russia-ASEAN summit was forwarded following the ASEAN ministerial session," he said.

"We promised to hand the invitation to President Vladimir Putin," Mr. Lavrov noted.

In his words, in 2005 Malaysia will host an ASEAN summit. "All ASEAN member-states would like to hold the first-ever Russia-ASEAN summit as part of this meeting," the Russian Foreign Minister added.

Russia is playing an important role on the international scene, said ASEAN cochairman, Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs Shunmugam Jayakumar.

On Thursday ASEAN Foreign Ministers met with their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Jakarta.

According to Mr. Jayakumar, Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the G8 is a key figure in such regional organizations as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Armenia) and an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Shunmugam Jayakumar came out for the development of Russia-ASEAN dialogue which is an important instrument to achieve mutual understanding between Russia and ASEAN member-states. Moreover, he pointed out to Russia's geopolitical authority and economic growth.

At RIA Novosti's request Sergei Lavrov commented on the possible practical consequences of the signing of the Russia-ASEAN anti-terrorist declaration.

"The declaration lays down the cooperation principles between Russian and ASEAN relevant services and creates additional legal frameworks for practical counter-terrorist measures," he said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the declaration will be signed on July 2.


http://www.russiajournal.com/news/cnews-article.shtml?nd=44494