PHNOM PENH: Ten Southeast Asian nations said on Tuesday that they would begin negotiating a sweeping trade pact that would include China and five of the region's other major trading partners, but not the United States.
The proposal for the trade bloc, to be known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, is enthusiastically embraced by China.
The founding members , who belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations , said at the close of the association's summit meeting here that the bloc would cover nearly half of the world's population , starting in 2015.
The new grouping is seen as a rival to a trade initiative of the Obama administration, the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership , which includes many of the same countries but excludes China.
The announcement came as China was facing pressure to back down from its hard-line stance in its disputes with four Southeast Asian countries over ownership of islands in the South China Sea.
Five nations at the summit meeting, including Singapore and Indonesia, demanded changes related to the issue in two communiques that were drafted by Cambodia, the host of the meeting and an ally of China with no claim to the islands.
The initial draft of one of the communiques, intended for the association to issue, said that its members, by consensus , did not want the South China Sea issue to be "internationalised" - meaning that the United States and other countries with interests in the security of the sea, one of the world's busiest trade routes, would have no say in the rules of the body of water.
China said such a consensus existed. But the Philippines, an ally of the United States, publicly protested China's position and was joined Tuesday by Singapore , the Philippines , Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam .
The final text of the communique omitted the reference to a consensus , the statement by Singapore said. The second communique, for the concurrent East Asia Summit , left out any mention of the South China Sea in the initial draft, even though the five members wanted the issue to be included.
That communique, too, was amended. In a direct criticism of China's position on the South China Sea, PM Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore said at the East Asia Summit that he hoped the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China would soon start formal talks on a code of conduct that would reduce the risk of conflict over the sea.
indiatimes.com
The proposal for the trade bloc, to be known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, is enthusiastically embraced by China.
The founding members , who belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations , said at the close of the association's summit meeting here that the bloc would cover nearly half of the world's population , starting in 2015.
The new grouping is seen as a rival to a trade initiative of the Obama administration, the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership , which includes many of the same countries but excludes China.
The announcement came as China was facing pressure to back down from its hard-line stance in its disputes with four Southeast Asian countries over ownership of islands in the South China Sea.
Five nations at the summit meeting, including Singapore and Indonesia, demanded changes related to the issue in two communiques that were drafted by Cambodia, the host of the meeting and an ally of China with no claim to the islands.
The initial draft of one of the communiques, intended for the association to issue, said that its members, by consensus , did not want the South China Sea issue to be "internationalised" - meaning that the United States and other countries with interests in the security of the sea, one of the world's busiest trade routes, would have no say in the rules of the body of water.
China said such a consensus existed. But the Philippines, an ally of the United States, publicly protested China's position and was joined Tuesday by Singapore , the Philippines , Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam .
The final text of the communique omitted the reference to a consensus , the statement by Singapore said. The second communique, for the concurrent East Asia Summit , left out any mention of the South China Sea in the initial draft, even though the five members wanted the issue to be included.
That communique, too, was amended. In a direct criticism of China's position on the South China Sea, PM Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore said at the East Asia Summit that he hoped the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China would soon start formal talks on a code of conduct that would reduce the risk of conflict over the sea.
indiatimes.com
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