Asians Take Their Case to UN

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 .c The Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - East Asians take their case to the United Nations this
week, with speakers from the region expected to tell the General Assembly
their views on issues such as U.N. reform, economic globalization and the
divided Korean peninsula. 

Foreign ministers of South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand
are among those scheduled Monday to address the General Assembly as its
annual debate begins its second week. 

Speakers from Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea, Australia and
New Zealand take the podium later this week. Foreign ministers of Japan,
China, Burma and Malaysia delivered speeches last week. 

Malaysia urged the United Nations to help combat the region's currency and
stock crisis, which Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi blamed on
``manipulators ... driven by sheer greed.'' 

That is among themes expected to be repeated by East Asians this week. Among
other major East Asian issues are the divided Korean peninsula, the recent
Cambodia coup, Burma's junta and the disputed territory of East Timor. 

The massive haze over Southeast Asia, caused by fires lit to clear land in
Indonesia, has driven home the need for international cooperation to protect
the environment at a time of economic growth. 

In North Korea, U.N. agencies have been working to stave off famine. The
United Nations has encouraged donor countries, especially Japan and South
Korea, to step up food aid. 

But diplomatic efforts to reach a long-term settlement of the Korean conflict
have bogged down. The United States and South Korea have offered North Korea
four-way peace talks to replace the 1953 Korean armistice with a lasting
formula. 

But the talks on convening a peace conference broke down this month because
neither side would compromise on the agenda. North Korea insists the agenda
include discussing the withdrawal of 37,000 U.S. troops from South Korea. 

North Korea also wants a separate treaty with Washington, excluding South
Korea. Washington and Seoul want North Korea to accept a peace deal before
discussing the status of U.S. troops. 

In Cambodia, the international community has deferred to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in diplomatic efforts to resolve the
crisis after Prime Minister Hun Sen ousted his co-premier, Prince Norodom
Ranariddh, last July. 

Under pressure from China and Japan, the U.N. Security Council refused to
condemn the coup or demand Ranariddh's restoration. The General Assembly
decided Cambodia's seat would remain vacant for the debate. 

Diplomacy has focused on gaining Hun Sen's assurances that he will allow free
and fair elections next year, with international observers. 

On Burma, Southeast Asians have been at odds with the United States and the
Western Europeans. In July, ASEAN admitted Burma to the regional trading bloc
against the urging of the Clinton administration and the European Union. 

ASEAN said membership should not hinge on a country's human rights record.
The member nations maintain the best way to promote civil liberties in Burma
is to bring the military regime into the global market. 

The Southeast Asians are also uneasy about pressure on Indonesia, the largest
ASEAN power, to solve the East Timor issue in a way favored by Portugal,
Western Europe, human rights activists and East Timorese opposition groups. 

U.N.-brokered talks between Portugal and Indonesia have been cordial but have
made little progress. Portugal, the former colonial power, wants a referendum
in East Timor to decide the territory's status. 

Jakarta, which sent troops to East Timor after the Portuguese left in 1974,
insists the territory is an integral part of Indonesia. 

Those differences show that many Southeast Asian governments do not share the
enthusiasm of the Americans and Western Europeans in strengthening the U.N.
human rights program. 

That will present a challenge for the new U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Mary Robinson, who has pledged to put the issue on the U.N. front
burner. 

On U.N. reform, the United States would like to see the newly prosperous
nations of East Asia pay more of the U.N. budget, while agreeing to reduce
Washington's share, now at 25 percent. 

But the East Asians are unlikely to sign off on such a deal unless they feel
they are getting more in terms of development programs, Security Council
influence and key U.N. jobs.