Rice likely to skip Asean meet in Manila

07/12/2007

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is report-edly skipping a major regional security meeting in Manila on Aug. 2, a Fo-reign Affairs official yes-terday said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, cited “conflict of schedule” for Rice’s non-attendance to the 14th Association of South-east Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF), Asia’s largest security grouping that

includes Asean dialog partners such as the United States, Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, North Korea and the European Union.

Rice will be designating Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Christopher Hill as special envoy to the ARF, the official added.

The US Embassy in Manila, declined to confirm the information.

Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop also yesterday said the State Department has not made an official announcement on the matter.

“The (State Department) spokesman said the media will be given update regarding (Secretary Rice’s attendance to the ARF) in the next day or two. We have not made an announcement who will be in the delegation,” he added.

This will be the second time that Rice is not attending an ARF meeting. The first one was during the ARF meeting in Vientiane, Laos, in 2005.

Her absence from that meeting is linked to Washington’s concern that the Asean is not exerting pressure on junta-ruled Myanmar to institute democratic reforms.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.

The Asean ministers are scheduled to adopt the regional bloc’s landmark charter, which will provide the group a legal and institutional framework.

The 40th Asean ministerial meeting and the ARF will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City from July 21 to Aug. 2.

Michaela P. del Callar

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