Peace, co-op issues dominate Asia Security Summit
12:36, 1 June 2009
SINGAPORE. June 1. KAZINFORM. The eighth Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri- La Dialogue, concluded here Sunday with defense ministers and senior officials from 27 countries calling for peaceful and cooperative solutions toward security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
This year's summit kicked off with a keynote address by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who highlighted the geo-strategic and geo-economic importance of the Asia-Pacific region by saying that "much of the critical history of the 21st century will be written, shaped and lived out here in Asia-Pacific."
Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, offered five proposals for the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean said that the Asia-Pacific region is gradually fostering a norm of dialogue, a culture of defense cooperation, and the acceptance of international legal mechanisms to resolve disputes peacefully. He said that states in the Asia-Pacific have real opportunities to build trust and enhance cooperation, for the benefit of all.
During this year's meeting, 22 Ministers and Ministerial representatives agreed that it is imperative to build a robust regional framework that could address various security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. They noted that the regional security architecture needs to be open, inclusive and flexible.
The Korean peninsula nuclear issue has been the focus of both participants and the press due to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) recent nuclear test.
This year has brought together for the first time in the Shangri- La Dialogue's history a trilateral meeting joined by the United States, Japan and South Korea to discuss a hot issue concerning regional security.
Speaking at a joint press briefing, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reaffirmed that the United States, Japan and South Korea, along with other countries, will strengthen cooperation to try to resolve the Korean peninsula nuclear issue.
During the three-day summit, defense ministers and senior officials also recognized that in a globalizing world today, traditional and non-traditional security threats are interwoven and beyond state boundaries, and these global security challenges place a greater reliance on cooperative solutions; Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.ru for full version.