China and Japan court ASEAN and each other

CEBU, Philippines, Jan 14: China and Japan discussed trade and security with Southeast Asian countries today as the two powers seek influence with a region that is building its own political and economic identity.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao sealed a trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit in the central Philippines and said both sides would continue to advance their ''strategic partnership'' this year.

Later, Japanese Prime Minister Premier Shinzo Abe, fresh from a tour of Europe, will highlight Tokyo's desire to play a more prominent role in regional affairs with an agreement to support Southeast Asian maritime security.

Although competing for ASEAN's affections, Wen and Abe will be keen to display warmer relations when they meet on the resort island of Cebu after years of bilateral hostility under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.

The two leaders are set to hold a summit with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in their first trilateral meeting since Abe took office last September. North Korea, which returned to international talks last month, is likely to top the agenda.

Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions will also be the main talking point when the three countries hold a summit with ASEAN later today, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The Philippines, which holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship, will urge the three East Asian countries to work together to solve the nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula, where officials fear Pyongyang could be preparing a second test.

''It may be tempting for Japan to consider becoming a nuclear weapon state, particularly after the nuclear test by DPRK (North Korea) last 9 October,'' Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will say in ASEAN's meeting with Japan.

''But the possession of nuclear weapons by more countries in our region will only lead to greater risks, not less. North Korea's nuclear weapons programme therefore cannot be allowed to stand.''

TEETH

The 10-member bloc flagged its determination to rise as a world player yesterday by bringing forward up its target for regional economic integration to 2015 and agreeing to become a rules-based bloc with teeth to discipline wayward members.

ASEAN members also agreed a pact that will clamp down on the movement of militants within its borders and allow for easier extradition of suspected rebels between countries.

Trade will dominate the bloc's discussions with South Korea, China and Japan, and a wider meeting including Australia and New Zealand, when the 16 leaders will also foster closer cooperation on energy issues with the signing of an energy security pact.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- countries that span the political and economic spectrum.

CRUCIAL STEP

China and Southeast Asia agreed to liberalise trade in services such as telecoms, transport, IT and tourism, from July in a deal which Wen said marked ''a crucial step forward'' towards a free trade bloc by 2010.

Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN rose by nearly a quarter to 161 billion dollar last year, Chinese figures show.

The Philippines laid out a full red carpet reception for Wen late last night, blocking off wide areas of Cebu city for his arrival in a tightly choreographed fanfare.

Wen said ASEAN and Beijing would ''advance bilateral cooperation to an even higher level'' in the coming year.

''Politically high-level contacts between the two sides have been close and dialogue and consultation at all levels has been fruitful and effective,'' he told Southeast Asian leaders.

Conscious of China's growing clout, Japan will also discuss progress on long-running free trade talks with ASEAN that both sides hope to seal later this year.

Talks with Wen will cover plans for a Chinese leader -- Wen or President Hu Jintao -- to visit Japan in coming months, a key event after Koizumi damaged relations with repeated visits to a Tokyo war shrine.

REUTERS