NEWS - ASEAN Summit Protesters Disp

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Subject: NEWS - ASEAN Summit Protesters Dispersed

ASEAN Summit Protesters Dispersed

 .c The Associated Press

 By PAUL ALEXANDER

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Police used high-pressure water hoses to
disperse protesters today as diplomats from Southeast Asia discussed
ways to ease tensions and promote economic recovery in the region.

About 200 protesters were stopped by riot police 300 yards from the
summit site along Manila Bay, and then forced back by water from three
fire trucks.

The protesters carried signs saying ``ASEAN Sellout'' and issued a
statement that urged delegates to the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations summit to ``wake up and accept the reality that
globalization has brought more harm than good to the people of Southeast
Asia.''

``They're not going to make any plans that will benefit either Filipinos
or people elsewhere in Southeast Asia,'' said Anya Silverio, a
spokeswoman for the demonstrators.

The protesters say ASEAN's policy of free trade will expose Southeast
Asian countries to competition from large multinational companies that
will result in massive layoffs and business closures.

Economic issues are expected to dominate the meetings as ASEAN nations
try to rebound from the 2-year-old Asian financial crisis. Some nations
already have started to recover, but others continue to struggle.

Japan, which will join China and South Korea on Sunday for the meeting
with the leaders of ASEAN nations, already has pledged $82 billion for
the region and is likely to come under pressure for even more
assistance.

Security in Manila is tight for the summit meetings, with Philippine
officials deploying 7,000 police and troops. Defense Secretary Orlando
Mercado said there have been no major threats, and police are likely to
focus on keeping planned protests from becoming unruly.

Several left-wing groups have announced plans to protest the eviction by
police of hundreds of squatters who lived near the meeting site. Several
people were injured in the evictions last week.

The diplomats hope to agree on a ``code of conduct'' aimed at cooling
territorial disputes in the South China Sea, one of the region's most
serious security threats.

The South China Sea conflict centers on the Spratly Islands, located in
the middle of the sea between Vietnam to the west and the Philippines to
the east.

The islands, believed to be rich in oil and gas, are claimed by six
governments: Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam - all ASEAN
members - plus China and Taiwan. China, Malaysia and Vietnam have all
recently built or enlarged structures on the islands to reinforce their
territorial claims.

The proposed code of conduct says rival claimants will refrain from
``new occupation of presently unoccupied'' areas. But ASEAN members have
not been able to agree on the geographic area covered by the code,
officials say. Some think it should cover the whole sea, others say it
should be just specific islands.

ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. This will be
the first ASEAN summit that Cambodia will attend as a full member after
being inducted into the group earlier this year.

AP-NY-11-24-99 0239EST