Asia opens annual security summit

---

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) and his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda (R) share a light moment during the Assosciation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) post ministerial conference with Russia in Manila Wednesday. — Photo: Internet

MANILA, Aug 1 (AFP): Asia's annual security summit got under way here Wednesday with a flurry of talks on everything from North Korea and Darfur to bird flu, child sex tourism and the threat of global warming.
With extra army squads deployed across Manila to secure the city, ministers and top officials from Asia, Europe, the United States and elsewhere started a feverish round of talks ahead of Thursday's annual meeting, the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF.
The crisis in Sudan was at the top of the agenda after the UN Security Council overnight approved a new peacekeeping force to deploy to Darfur, where an estimated 200,000 people have been killed in four years of fighting and famine.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, whose country voted for the force despite its close relations with Sudan, called for the peace troops to be backed up with efforts for a political solution to the bloodshed.
"As the peacekeeping operation makes progress, the international community should take effective measures to promote the political process concerning Darfur," Yang said.
He was speaking just before a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Christopher Hill, the top US negotiator at six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear programme.
All six nations -- China, the United States, Russia, Japan, North and South Korea -- are on hand for the ARF, though they were not expected to hold any group talks on Pyongyang and its pledge to disarm its nuclear weapons programmes.
"We are not at the point where we can open the champagne and say we have a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, because frankly we don't," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. "We have made progress."
With US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelling in the Middle East, Negroponte stressed that the United States was committed to relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Our engagement in this part of the world is strong and we are committed to deepening our ties even further in the time ahead," he told ASEAN ministers.
"The United States considers our relations with ASEAN as a critical component in its dealings with East Asia as a whole," Negroponte said.
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, in a brief speech to welcome Negroponte, said US engagement in the region was "critical" in the face of global challenges including those posed by Iran and North Korea.
"It is a great burden of responsibility," Yeo said. "America's presence in Asia has played a large role in shaping the region's development over the past decade."
Myanmar has also been a focus of attention in Manila after its objections nearly blocked ASEAN from announcing plans for a regional human rights body.
"The situation for us is unacceptable," said Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief.
Ministers were also discussing global concerns including aviation security, border controls, climate change, cyber-security and terrorism.
"We looked at the issue of what we are doing with the spectre of terrorism, as an issue, right across the board," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said after meeting with the ASEAN bloc.
"The conclusion we came to is this -- no country, no matter how powerful, can do it by itself," Peters said. "We can only do it collectively."
Australia's Downer also announced a package of Australian aid to help fight bird flu and child sex tourism.
Meanwhile, close to the venue Philippine riot police beat protesters with truncheons and batons to break up a demonstration. About 50 anti-globalisation protesters tried to march toward the convention centre but were pushed back by police, who began beating several of the demonstrators, an AFP photographer said.