ASEM Senior Officers' Meeting Agrees on China's Initiative

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, July 23, 2003

ASEM Senior Officers' Meeting Agrees on China's Initiative

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The senior officials' meeting (SOM) that precedes the 5th Asia-Europe Finance Ministers' Meeting agreed Tuesday on China's initiative on the management of public health emergency to be endorsed by foreign ministers.

"Of four initiatives proposed during the SOM, the initiative on management of public health emergency from China has been agreed by senior officials," SOM Chairman Arizal Effendi of Indonesia told a media briefing after a full day of SOM discussions on the resort island of Bali.

Besides China, Effendi said that Austria, South Korea and the Philippines also proposed their initiatives, which needs further talks before being submitted to the foreign ministers' meeting.

There was a proposal during the SOM for a political declaration concerning with weapons of mass destruction but more discussions are needed before a consensus is achieved, said Effendi, who is also the director general for American and European affairs under the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

He said the SOM did not discuss the issue of Myanmar, which is now under international pressure for not responding demands for quick release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but added such an issue would possibly be discussed in the ministerial level.

Media reports said that Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai had informed ASEAN that foreign ministers would raise such an issue during the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) dialogue in Bali, aiming to "find an exit for the Myanmar government and also reduce pressure from the international community."

Although last year's ASEM foreign ministers' meeting welcomed the interest of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia in joining the grouping, Effendi said the issue of enlargement was not discussed in Bali, but said a decision on the issue is expected to be endorsed in ASEM Summit in Hanoi next year. >

Effendi said the crisis on the Korean Peninsula will be discussed separately by the "directly-interested" ASEM members, including Japan, South Korea and China.

ASEM's Asian members are Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam while the 15 European Union members made the other site.

The two-day SOM is preceding the ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting scheduled on Thursday through Friday.

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