Sunday, 11 January 2009

China not attending AseanSummit in Thailand

The Brunei Times
BANGKOK
Saturday, January 10, 2009

CHINA will not attend the upcoming 14th summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) if it is held on February 27 to March 1, as tentatively planned, officials said Wednesday. Thailand was initially scheduled to host the 14th Asean Summit in mid-December 2008, but had to postpone the regional meeting indefinitely because of political chaos at home that had led to the closure of Bangkok's two airports from November 26 to until the December 3.

Bangkok has proposed several new dates for the summit, with the latest being set for February 27 to March 1.

"Most of the dates China could accommodate, but the it happens that the last date of February 27 to March 1, China has another important prior engagement," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.

China will be busy with its National Congress in late February and early March.

Although China is not a member of Asean, it has come to play a leading role at recent summits as international attention shifted away from South-East Asia towards China.

China, along with Japan and South Korea, has attended past Asean summits to participate in Asean-Plus three summits on the sidelines of the regional gathering to foster closer relationship within these nations especially in trade and other economic cooperations. DPA

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