BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: All eyes will be on Asean Chair Brunei Darussalam for the next two days as it hosts the 23rd Asean Summit, Borneo Bulletin reported.
Discussions on the implementation of the Asean Community by 2015 and reducing tensions in the South China Sea are expected to be high on the agenda in the annual gathering of leaders from 10 Asean member countries and Asean’s dialogue partners.
Leaders from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are scheduled to meet prior to the opening of the summit today to discuss the trans-boundary haze issue.
Most of the leaders arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan yesterday after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bali and will convene at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Berakas this morning where they will be greeted by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Chairman of the 23rd Asean Summit.
For the next two days, the Asean leaders will meet with their counterparts and leaders of Asean’s Dialogue Partners to discuss wide-ranging cooperation in the political-security, economic and socio-cultural spheres, which are undertaken through Asan-led mechanisms.
The 23rd Asean Summit will follow with a customary group photo and a luncheon. In the afternoon, the 16th Asean-Japan Summit, 16th Asean-Republic of Korean Summit, 16th Asean-China Summit and the 1st Asean-US Summit will follow before a gala dinner attended by leaders of Asean and its dialogue partners.
Meanwhile, at the same venue tomorrow, the leaders will attend the 16th Asean Plus Three Summit, 8th East Asia Summit (EAS), 11th Asean-India Summit and the 5th Asean-United Nations (UN) Summit before the closing ceremony and handover of the Asean chairmanship to host country for the first time next year, Myanmar.
His Majesty is also scheduled to give a press conference following the handover ceremony.
According to an Asean press release yesterday, with two more years before the deadline, the implementation of the Roadmap for an Asean Community showed considerable gains across all the three pillars of the community, setting the stage for meeting the 2015 targets.
“With the theme ‘Our People, Our Future Together’, the 23rd Asean Summit will discuss ways to consolidate these gains to meet the 2015 target of having an economically integrated, politically cohesive and socially responsible Asean Community and to ensure Asean’s place in the global community of nations by 2015 and beyond,” it added.
Asean Secretary-General, Le Luong Minh said, “The 23rd Asean Summit marks a very productive year of Asean Community building. In my annual report to our Asean leaders, we are very pleased to note that we have seen a more concerted effort to assess and prioritise our work across the three pillars. For 2014, we will remain focused on expediting the implementation of the remaining 2015 targets and ensuring greater convergence of the three Community pillars – where peace, stability and development are, at the same time, each other’s conditions and driving force. By 2015 and beyond, it is our aim to ensure not only the continuity and sustainability of the existing momentum, but also to set the foundation for such concerted progress in a more challenging environment, with enhanced external interest and engagement in the region, and in much larger East Asian and Asia Pacific contexts.”
Meanwhile, China’s top diplomat to Brunei Darussalam told the media last week that China’s leaders look forward to meeting their Asean counterparts in the 16th Asean-China Summit to discuss ways of cooperation in South China Sea. Brunei, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan all lay claims towards the potentially resource-rich stretch of the sea, but China says its territory is marked by a “nine-dash line” that encompasses almost all of the waters. Except China and Taiwan, the other claimants are members of Asean.
Tensions escalated last year when a joint communiqué failed to materialise during an Asean Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia due to disagreements and protests on the part by some claimant countries. Over the last few months, some claimant countries have also taken a vocal and assertive stance over part of the waters’ sovereignty.
Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Zheng Xianglin, said during the summit, China’s Premier Le Keqiang will discuss ways and explore possibilities for cooperation in areas of scientific researches, energy preservation, environmental protection and other fields.
With a RMB3 billion China-Asean Maritime Cooperation Fund already in place, the Chinese Ambassador said the summit will discuss how the fund will be put to use.
After a recent meeting in China on the implementation of the Document of Conduct (DOC) and the consultation meeting of the Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea, the Ambassador said they believe that in a gradual manner, based on the principle of consensus, the COC process will go smoothly. “We promote peace in this region because there is no development without peace.”
In the meantime, US President Barack Obama will be represented by Secretary of State John Kerry at the summit in light of the impasse over the government shutdown in Washington, forcing the President to cancel his trip to the APEC Summit in Bali and the Asean Summit in Brunei. Reuters reported that Obama was scheduled to bring up the South China Sea issue here, apart from key economic and diplomatic issues.
John Kerry told reporters Saturday in Bali, Indonesia, at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting that despite Obama’s absence at AMC and Asean Summit, “I believe the United States still stands tall and will not diminish one iota the influence or the direction that we are fighting to move in.”
Part of Washington’s goal since President Obama took office is to increase its engagement with Asia and expand the agreement to include countries across the Asia-Pacific region, which together represent more than half of global output and over 40 per cent of the world trade.