PHNOM
PENH (Kyodo) -- Defense ministers from
ASEAN, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Russia, Australia
and New Zealand should meet every two years, instead of triennially, as
maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region is getting more complex,
particularly in the South China Sea where territorial disputes are being
aggravated, according an ASEAN document obtained Thursday.
The
draft concept paper, prepared for adoption at next Monday's ASEAN Defense
Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, proposes shortening the interval between
meetings of ASEAN defense ministers with their counterparts from the other
eight nations to enable them "to have more frequent exchanges of views and
perspectives on geostrategic, security and defense issues."
The
inaugural meeting of the so-called ADDM-Plus was held in Hanoi in 2010, at
which time the defense ministers agreed to pursue cooperation in five areas --
maritime security, counterterrorism, disaster management, peacekeeping
operations and military medicine -- and to meet once in every three years, with
the next meeting to be held in 2013 in Brunei.
The
draft concept paper obtained by Kyodo News effectively calls for the third
ADDM-Plus meeting to be held in 2015.
ASEAN
military sources said maritime conflicts in the South China Sea involving China
and several ASEAN member states will be one of the hot topics at Monday's
meeting, especially as China's defense minister will also be in the Cambodian
capital for a consultative discussion with the ASEAN defense ministers at the
end of their one-day meeting.
They
said the ASEAN defense ministers will restate their commitment to fully and
effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the
South China Sea, signed by China and ASEAN in 2002, and to work toward the
adoption of a regional code of conduct to promote peace and stability in the
region.
ASEAN
comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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