Posted on 11/29/2003 6:41:45 PM PST by Lessismore
The creation of an East Asian Community, an Asian version of the European Union, will be proposed in a declaration to be adopted at the Commemorative Summit meeting between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to be held Dec. 11-12 in Tokyo, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Saturday.
According to documents on "The Tokyo Declaration For A Dynamic And Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership In The New Millennium" and its action plan, which the newspaper obtained, Japan and ASEAN countries will emphasize mutual cooperation in the reinforcement of comprehensive economic partnership and monetary and financial cooperation.
The declaration is based on an agreement reached between the two last year, and they also will propose the development of an environment conductive to investment in addition to the increase of trade and liberalization of domestic markets.
The significance of ASEAN plus Three (Japan, China and South Korea) is also stressed in the declaration envisioning the creation of the East Asian Community, which will help integrate regional economies by exploiting the region's creativity and vitality, according to the documents.
Japan's plan to accept 10,000 young people from Asia as students and in other capacities over the next five years is included in the declaration's action plan as a measure to expand exchanges between the people of Japan and its Asian neighbors.
According to Thai government sources, Japan will announce its intention to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), a basic agreement reached among ASEAN members in 1976, on the first day of the Tokyo summit meeting. The declaration includes words of welcome from ASEAN members hailing Japan's accession to the TAC, the sources said.
China and India signed the TAC at a meeting held in October in Bali, Indonesia. As the two countries have recently been moving vigorously to improve their ties with ASEAN, Japan, which has fallen behind them, is trying to make up for the delay at the summit meeting in Tokyo, observers said.
as strippers,, perhaps?
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