AFP: (China) Premier likely to sidestep Spratlys at Asean summit-Va` dde^'n VN tu+` Dec.1-4

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

Monday, November 22, 1999

Premier likely to sidestep Spratlys at Asean summit

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Premier Zhu Rongji sets off today on a four-nation tour built around the
Asean leadership summit in Manila. 

During the 12-day trip to Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Vietnam, all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Mr
Zhu will meet his counterparts and discuss Asia's ongoing financial
recovery and other issues of common concern, officials said. 

Mr Zhu's presence at the Asean summit, which opens in Manila on November
28, will be aimed at reaffirming China's support for the ongoing
economic recovery in the region, the officials said. 

But it was unlikely China would agree to sign any document related to a
"code of conduct" over the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China
Sea. 

"Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan
said China supported such an initiative, but it is too early to agree to
such a proposal at this meeting," a senior Philippine Foreign Ministry
official said. 

During the summit, China will steer clear of any commitments to support
the establishment of a regional security forum, although Mr Zhu will
participate in a summit with Japan's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on the sidelines of the Asean
meeting. 

They are expected to focus on trade and economic issues as China
prepares to join the World Trade Organisation. 

Mr Zhu's trip will place him in the foreign affairs spotlight
domestically, while also giving regional leaders an opportunity to
assess his political standing in China's communist hierarchy. 

Mr Zhu's trip kicks off in Malaysia, where he will be the guest of
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, before heading for a state
visit to the Philippines on Wednesday. 

He will visit Singapore from November 29 to 30 and Vietnam from December
1 to 4.

In Vietnam, he is expected to push forward border demarcation talks with
Hanoi concerning the two countries' land border as well as the
longstanding dispute in the Gulf of Tonkin, mainland officials said. 











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