AP-Officials Prepare for Asia Summi

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Subject: AP-Officials Prepare for Asia Summit

Monday July 19 1:48 PM ET

Officials Prepare for Asia Summit
By LAURINDA KEYS Associated Press Writer

SINGAPORE (AP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers want to build
cooperation, open trade and ease hardships brought by two years of economic
crisis when they meet this week for their annual summit.

But territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula and
the border between Pakistan and India, as well as U.S.-Chinese relations,
may draw more attention.

Senior officials from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
will work Tuesday and Wednesday on areas of agreement in preparation for the
foreign ministers' arrival Thursday.

The ministers will be joined by their counterparts from the United States,
Russia, Japan, China and South Korea, and other countries included in the
ASEAN Regional Forum.

One of the most important issues at the meetings, which end July 28, will be
social safety net programs to help Southeast Asia's poorest people recover
from the financial crisis that has hit every member, says Thailand's Foreign
Ministry spokesman, Don Pramudvinai.

``ASEAN has been weakened by the economic crisis,'' he said. ``We should
think about what we want to be in the future and stimulate the
sustainability of growth regionwide by focusing more on social issues along
with economic and political topics.''

Among the hot political topics is Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's
schedule.

Observers will be watching to see if she holds a bilateral session with
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan to repair relations following the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in
Yugoslavia on May 7.

India's Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh is likely to hold talks with
Albright, an Indian government official said Sunday.

It would be the first high-level meeting between the two countries since
fighting in the disputed Kashmir region raised tension between India and
neighboring Pakistan. Washington was seen as siding with India in the
hostilities.

One possible conflict at the meeting will be over the Spratly Islands,
mineral rich dots of land in the vital sea lanes of the South China Sea. The
competing claims of China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan

are mentioned at every ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, as the annual gathering is
called. Taiwan is not represented at the meetings.

Malaysia, which recently built small structures on one of the reefs in the
archipelago, says it doesn't want the Spratlys discussed by ASEAN. But the
Philippines has insisted it will bring up the issue and that it and Vietnam
will put forward a code of conduct over the islets.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

The ASEAN Regional Forum also includes Australia, Canada, the European
Union, India and New Zealand.