Added: Jul 23, 2008
From: NTDTV
Duration: 1:40
ANCHOR: In Singapore, a smoldering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia grabbed the limelight as Southeast Asian nations began meetings with Asia-Pacific powers on economic and security issues. Here's more. STORY: Foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea. Talks on regional diplomacy over North Korea's nuclear program was certainly on the agenda. But ASEAN was distracted away from big-power diplomacy, due to Thailand and Cambodia's military showdown over an 11th-century temple on the border, claimed by both nations. Ministers from Thailand and Cambodia briefed their ASEAN counterparts about the situation, after both sides sent hundreds of soldiers and heavy artillery to the border in recent days. [Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary General]: "As ASEAN still insisted on the statement that the chairman put out on Sunday evening, that (we) expect the two sides were going to find amicable solutions to the issues between them and that ASEAN still stands ready to extend any support if the two sides would like ASEAN to play a role. But we did not go any further than that. I think the atmosphere was just to exchange information and to exchange views on matters of ASEAN, of ASEAN's role in various issues in the region and the issue of Cambodia and Thailand came up as one issue, nothing formal, nothing official." The dispute is testing ASEAN's unity while it is in the midst of ratifying a charter that would turn the 41-year-old grouping into an EU-style, rules-based organization. Cambodia has asked the United Nations Security Council for an emergency meeting, to resolve the military stand-off with Thailand. Phnom Penh's appeal to the world body late on Monday came after bilateral talks failed to end the week-long border confrontation, which neighbors fear could turn violent. But the ASEAN Secretary General is confident progress is being made. [Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary General]: "They have made some progress. They have met on the border and both sides were still hoping that they could find a solution." North Korea nuclear diplomacy will take centre stage when ASEAN holds talks with China, Japan, South Korea and Russia on regional security and trade issues today.
Channel: News
Tags: asean cambodia economic ntd security singapore talks thai thailand
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