By MALCOLM FOSTER
BANGKOK (AP) — North Korea's rocket launch could overshadow the intended focus on overcoming the global financial crisis at this weekend's summit of 16 Asian nations, including regional powerhouses China and Japan.
The annual East Asia Summit is the first chance for regional leaders to discuss Sunday's rocket launch that North Korea claimed put a satellite into orbit but that most nations see as an attempt to hide a ballistic missile test.
Japan and most likely South Korea are among states pressing for a strongly worded statement on North Korea, officials say. But any moves to come down hard on North Korea — which is not attending the meeting — will likely be tempered by China, its key ally.
With Asia's economies reeling from the global slowdown, some delegates are worried that the rocket incident could prove a distraction.
"We hope it won't overshadow the talks on the global crisis," said a senior Philippine official who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media. "It's very important, especially for countries like the Philippines."
Host Thailand and other countries hope the meeting will build on the momentum of last week's Group of 20 summit, which secured $1.1 trillion in funding resources for struggling economies.
The summit, in its fourth year, aims to promote Asia's economic integration. It brings together the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, for meetings with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Together, these countries account for 3 billion people and about a quarter of the world's economic output.
Most of these nations have already announced stimulus packages to revive growth that is expected to slow sharply this year.
However, the World Bank predicts China's economy will start to recover this year, and that could lift the entire region in 2010. Hopes that the region is bottoming out has helped fuel the region's monthlong stock market rally.
"It does appear that things are starting to level out" in Asia, said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore. "We're getting some impact from the fiscal stimulus measures announced in China in November."
The meeting comes as Asia is gaining a bigger say in global financial affairs. At the G-20 summit, developing nations including China and India won promises for reforms of the International Monetary Fund and other institutions to better match global economic and political realities.
Japan and China, the world's No. 2 and No. 3 economies, hold a combined $3 trillion in foreign currency reserves, giving them unprecedented financial heft.
A draft of a special statement on the financial crisis obtained by The Associated Press shows that the 16 nations plan to "stand firm" against protectionism and commit to "take further actions as appropriate to sustain growth and jobs."
To protect against possible currency reserve shortages, a serious problem during the Asian financial crisis a decade ago, leaders from "ASEAN Plus 3" — Japan, China and South Korea — will endorse the expansion of a regional currency swaps program, officials said. The so-called Chiang Mai Initiative will be expanded from $80 billion to $120 billion.
Other topics likely to be discussed include global warming — which dominated the previous East Asia Summit — trade, energy and food security and disaster management, such as responding to cyclones, tsunamis and other natural catastrophes.
Armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed 11th century temple on their border is expected to be discussed on the sidelines.
But North Korea's rocket launch over the weekend has suddenly thrust the issue into the summit spotlight, reminding countries that security remains a serious concern.
"We need to cooperate on how to cope with the North Korea problem," said Jo Jang-rae, a deputy secretary to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
U.N. Security Council diplomats have been squabbling over possible ways to punish North Korea for what President Barack Obama and other world leaders called a provocative launch and a violation of previous sanctions, imposed after the North's underground nuclear test in 2006.
China is concerned about alienating North Korea and the possible impact on the stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons program.
Normally, the East Asian Summit comes at the end of the annual gathering of leaders from ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
But this year organizers had to postpone and break up the meetings because anti-government protesters shut down Bangkok's main international airport in December, when the summit was initially scheduled.
The summit is being held in Pattaya, in the seaside town 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Bangkok that also is well-known for its large red-light district. Organizers shifted the venue from Bangkok to avoid political protests that have plagued the Thai capital.
Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila, Ray Lilley in Wellington, Erika Kinetz in Mumbai, Kelly Olsen in Seoul and Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok contributed to this report.
BANGKOK (AP) — North Korea's rocket launch could overshadow the intended focus on overcoming the global financial crisis at this weekend's summit of 16 Asian nations, including regional powerhouses China and Japan.
The annual East Asia Summit is the first chance for regional leaders to discuss Sunday's rocket launch that North Korea claimed put a satellite into orbit but that most nations see as an attempt to hide a ballistic missile test.
Japan and most likely South Korea are among states pressing for a strongly worded statement on North Korea, officials say. But any moves to come down hard on North Korea — which is not attending the meeting — will likely be tempered by China, its key ally.
With Asia's economies reeling from the global slowdown, some delegates are worried that the rocket incident could prove a distraction.
"We hope it won't overshadow the talks on the global crisis," said a senior Philippine official who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media. "It's very important, especially for countries like the Philippines."
Host Thailand and other countries hope the meeting will build on the momentum of last week's Group of 20 summit, which secured $1.1 trillion in funding resources for struggling economies.
The summit, in its fourth year, aims to promote Asia's economic integration. It brings together the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, for meetings with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Together, these countries account for 3 billion people and about a quarter of the world's economic output.
Most of these nations have already announced stimulus packages to revive growth that is expected to slow sharply this year.
However, the World Bank predicts China's economy will start to recover this year, and that could lift the entire region in 2010. Hopes that the region is bottoming out has helped fuel the region's monthlong stock market rally.
"It does appear that things are starting to level out" in Asia, said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics in Singapore. "We're getting some impact from the fiscal stimulus measures announced in China in November."
The meeting comes as Asia is gaining a bigger say in global financial affairs. At the G-20 summit, developing nations including China and India won promises for reforms of the International Monetary Fund and other institutions to better match global economic and political realities.
Japan and China, the world's No. 2 and No. 3 economies, hold a combined $3 trillion in foreign currency reserves, giving them unprecedented financial heft.
A draft of a special statement on the financial crisis obtained by The Associated Press shows that the 16 nations plan to "stand firm" against protectionism and commit to "take further actions as appropriate to sustain growth and jobs."
To protect against possible currency reserve shortages, a serious problem during the Asian financial crisis a decade ago, leaders from "ASEAN Plus 3" — Japan, China and South Korea — will endorse the expansion of a regional currency swaps program, officials said. The so-called Chiang Mai Initiative will be expanded from $80 billion to $120 billion.
Other topics likely to be discussed include global warming — which dominated the previous East Asia Summit — trade, energy and food security and disaster management, such as responding to cyclones, tsunamis and other natural catastrophes.
Armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed 11th century temple on their border is expected to be discussed on the sidelines.
But North Korea's rocket launch over the weekend has suddenly thrust the issue into the summit spotlight, reminding countries that security remains a serious concern.
"We need to cooperate on how to cope with the North Korea problem," said Jo Jang-rae, a deputy secretary to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
U.N. Security Council diplomats have been squabbling over possible ways to punish North Korea for what President Barack Obama and other world leaders called a provocative launch and a violation of previous sanctions, imposed after the North's underground nuclear test in 2006.
China is concerned about alienating North Korea and the possible impact on the stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear weapons program.
Normally, the East Asian Summit comes at the end of the annual gathering of leaders from ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
But this year organizers had to postpone and break up the meetings because anti-government protesters shut down Bangkok's main international airport in December, when the summit was initially scheduled.
The summit is being held in Pattaya, in the seaside town 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Bangkok that also is well-known for its large red-light district. Organizers shifted the venue from Bangkok to avoid political protests that have plagued the Thai capital.
Associated Press writers Jim Gomez in Manila, Ray Lilley in Wellington, Erika Kinetz in Mumbai, Kelly Olsen in Seoul and Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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