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ASEAN plans early warning system
 
 
 
 
 
 
 By JIM GOMEZ,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, February 28
CHA-AM, Thailand - Southeast Asian nations were set to endorse an early warning system to defuse conflicts that could derail their goal of becoming a European Union-like community by 2015, according to a confidential document obtained Saturday by The Associated Press.
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The blueprint for peace in the highly diverse region where conflicts still erupt was to be adopted Sunday at the climax of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"More efforts are needed in strengthening the existing modes of pacific settlement of disputes to avoid or settle future disputes," says the final draft of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint. It outlines a long "wish list," ranging from fighting piracy, terrorism and cyber crime to promoting democracy and good governance.
"It is envisaged that the (blueprint) will bring ASEAN's political and security cooperation to a higher plane," it says.
But officials of the 10-member bloc stress that numerous stumbling blocks remain on the road to true economic, political and security integration.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said there remain "a lot of challenges along the way, we won't be able to complete the journey soon."
"The European Union has been and remains our inspiration, not our model. Not yet anyway," he said. Surin said that for the foreseeable future economic integration was largely about dropping trade barriers and that a common currency was probably "a long, long way off."
ASEAN, which encompasses a region of more than 500 million people, includes among its members two communist regimes, two constitutional monarchies, a military dictatorship and fledgling democracies.
While Southeast Asia has not seen major conflicts since the Vietnam War era, tensions and confrontations persist. Thailand and Cambodia narrowly avoided a shootout last year in an ongoing dispute over an ancient temple along their common border, and territorial claims remain unresolved in the resource-rich South China Sea. Bloody Muslim insurgencies plague southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.
Not spelling out details, the blueprint calls for an early warning system "based on existing mechanisms to prevent occurrence/escalation of conflicts" as well as intensified cooperation among the bloc's military forces.
In another effort to move the region forward, ASEAN is finalizing a new human rights body to promote fundamental freedoms, although it will lack the power to punish violators such as military-ruled Myanmar.
A confidential draft document, which outlines the proposed powers of the future rights body, says ASEAN will "promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms." It falls short, however, of key demands voiced by international human rights groups, which say the body will have limited effectiveness unless it can impose sanctions or expel countries that violate the rights of their own citizens.
The draft is the first to outline the body's proposed powers; a final one is expected in July.
ASEAN traditionally shies away from criticizing its members, although some leaders said that issues of democratic reform in Myanmar and human rights abuses were being discussed on the sidelines of the meetings.
Human rights issues are getting some attention, but leaders say the summit is focusing on the global economic meltdown and how the export-dependent region can best cope with the crisis.
ASEAN signed a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand on Friday, a pact that could boost the combined gross domestic product of all 12 nations by more than $48 billion by 2020.
The summit, hosted by current chair Thailand, is the first since the group signed a landmark charter in December making ASEAN a legal entity and moving it a step closer to its goal of integration.
ASEAN's 10 members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
___
Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.
 
 
 
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