Bangkok - 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 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 as an upcoming economic and
political powerhouse.
China, along with Japan and South Korea, has attended past
ASEAN summits to participate in ASEAN-Plus 3 summits on the sidelines
of the regional gathering.
Tharit said the final date for the 14th summit will be announced
this week.
'There is a proposal that we might go ahead with the ASEAN summit
with the ten members and then hold the ASEAN-Plus 3 summit at a later
date,' he said.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The 14th summit is expected to concentrate on the economic
challenges posed to the region by the US financial meltdown and
resulting recessions in the US, Europe and Japan - the three main
markets for Asia's exports and services.
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