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SINGAPORE: From Pakistan to Sri Lanka and southern Thailand, people
are dying in Asia’s numerous conflict zones—but progress in
resolving the unrest is unlikely at Asia’s main security meet next
week, observers say.
Ministers and top officials from Asia, Europe
and the United States gather in Singapore on July 24 for the annual
Asean Regional Forum (ARF), the principal official forum for
security dialogue in Asia.
But analysts say while ARF might discuss some of
these deadly and, in some cases, escalating conflicts, little action
will be forthcoming.
“They discuss everything under the sun . . .
That’s all it is. It’s a talk shop,” said Carl Thayer of the
Strategic and Defense Studies Center at the Australian National
University.
“It’s a virtual organization. It comes
together once a year and then disappears,” Thayer added.
The southern Mindanao region of the Philippines
is dealing with deadly insurgencies. Communist and Islamic fighters
recently became increasingly active in the area, where a small group
of US military trainers are based.
While members will clarify some of the issues
about their conflicts, the group cannot be expected to resolve them,
said Rodolfo Severino, a former secretary-general of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
“It’s not built for that,” Severino added,
noting that some members have “clashing interests.”
The gathering in Singapore, the culmination of
meetings by Southeast Asian foreign ministers and officials
beginning this Thursday, includes nations with some of Asia’s most
worrying and intractable security problems.
The group of 27 member-nations has no history of
active involvement in the region’s troubles, said Damien Kingsbury
of Australia’s Deakin University.
“It’s really done very little in a
substantive sense,” added Kingsbury, from the School of
International and Political Studies.
“I think the real purpose of ARF is . . . for
the countries of the region to be able to assure each other that
they don’t pose a threat to each other.”
ARF “[hasn’t] really gone beyond the agenda
of confidence-building” among members, said Mely Caballero-Anthony
of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to
attend the forum amid concern in Washington about Islamic militants
in Pakistan’s tribal areas and their attacks on foreign troops
across the border in Afghanistan.
But it’s not just Pakistan and Afghanistan
where concerns are mounting.
Fighting has worsened this year in Sri Lanka,
another ARF member, after the government withdrew from a ceasefire
with Tamil Tiger rebels, who are believed to source weapons from a
number of Southeast Asian nations.
Sri Lanka said it hopes to glean intelligence on
Tamil Tiger activities at the Singapore talks, while also briefing
member-nations on political developments inside its country.
In southern Thailand, beheadings, live burnings
and torture have become a common feature of violence by insurgents,
a US rights group reported.
More than 3,300 people have died since unrest
broke out in the region along the border with Malaysia four years
ago.
China, another member, will not discuss security
issues on Tibet and elsewhere in the country, despite global concern
over Beijing’s crackdown in March on unrest in the predominantly
Buddhist Himalayan region.
“This platform should not be used to discuss
the internal affairs of the countries,” foreign ministry spokesman
Liu Jianchao said when asked if such matters would be talked about.
“ARF is a platform for regional countries to
exchange views on the regional and international security situation
and promote security dialogue and cooperation,” Liu added.
The core of ARF are the 10 Asean members, and
that is part of the problem, analysts say. “These 10 countries are
not heavyweights in the region,” Thayer said. Asean groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
“ARF is guided by the Asean principles and one
of the Asean principles is non-interference in the affairs of
another country,” Thayer added.
Asked what would be on next week’s agenda, an
Asean official said ministers “will exchange views on regional and
international political and security issues of common interest and
concern.”
The official added that disaster preparedness
may also be a key issue following natural calamities in the region
this year, including a devastating cyclone in Myanmar and earthquake
in southwestern China.
-- AFP
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