RI wants EAS to focus on political, security issues

Indonesia, the host of the East Asia summit (EAS) this year, plans to narrow the agenda of the upcoming summit on security and political matters to allow heads of state to solve pressing problems within
the region.

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy also proposed that economic issues would be tackled by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

The statement was made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his meeting with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Rudd, a former Australian prime minister, visited Indonesia — which will cochair The Bali Process — to discuss people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crimes. The Bali Process runs from March 29 to March 30.

“President Yudhoyono and Rudd share a similar view of focusing the EAS on security and political issues,” presidential spokesman on international affairs Teuku Faizasyah told reporters after the meeting at the State Palace on Tuesday.

He said that foreign ministers from respected EAS countries would discuss the agenda for the meeting in Bali later this year.

“President Yudhoyono underlines that the issues of trade and finance should be discussed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation,” he said.

The summit will be attended by heads of state from South Korea, India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in addition to 10 members of ASEAN, with the US and Russia joining for the first time this year.

President Yudhoyono earlier said that the EAS would also discuss the Korean peninsula conflict and tension in the South China Sea.

Teuku said that the EAS had so far discussed a string of issues from politics, security, trade, finance and terrorism.

Critics have labeled a series of recent meetings among leaders of the Asia-Pacific countries as “talk shops”, arguing that the regional leaders only come up with concepts and statements without producing concrete actions to tackle the imminent problems in the region.

Some said that the leaders have too many issues to talk about during the one-day meeting while others pointed out that regional meetings have been redundant, especially because the same leaders also have to focus on the EAS and APEC.

Separately, the inclusion of the US and Russia into the summit brings challenges for Indonesia as the chair of ASEAN this year.

“It’s inevitable that when you bring in countries like the US and Russia, there will be changes with your own global agenda, in understanding an issue,” New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia David Taylor said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

“In the chairmanship role, Indonesia has something to prove, how to co-opt the US and Russia in a positive way with the existing EAS members and agenda,” he added, voicing optimism that the US and Russia would strengthen the standing of the EAS.