Cranston Asks Annual Pacific Rim Summits

Senate Democratic Whip Alan Cranston on Monday proposed annual summits at which President Bush would discuss economics and regional security with leaders of Japan, China and other nations on the Pacific Rim, including the Soviet Union when it would be appropriate.

Cranston’s plan for a yearly “Pacific Basin Forum” was contained in a letter to the President released on the eve of Senate hearings on East Asian and Pacific affairs that California’s senior senator has scheduled in Los Angeles on Wednesday and San Francisco on Thursday.

“Imaginative, energetic diplomacy can help us build new relationships with former adversaries while reducing inevitable irritants in our relationships with allies,” Cranston wrote.

“I recommend that the United States lead in the establishment of a Pacific Basin Forum to pursue discussions of regional economic and security concerns,” Cranston added. “These summits should include China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and other key nations in the region.

“The new forum should also make a deliberate effort to involve the Soviets, as appropriate, as well as their allies, North Korea and Vietnam, in a dialogue about such common concerns as free trade, economic development and environmental protection.”

Cranston said he will be working with others to introduce legislation encouraging such an approach and authorizing U.S. participation. On a related issue, the California lawmaker said that the United States should negotiate with the Philippines for at least a 10-year lease on U.S. military installations--Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base. Both leases expire in 1991. Relocation of the facilities, he said, would cost $10 billion and sharply reduce traditional ties between Washington and Manila.

In addition, Cranston said that the United States should ask Japan to shoulder more of the costs now paid by the United States to keep its military forces in Japan.

Wednesday’s hearings begin at 10 a.m. at the James West Center at UCLA. Thursday’s hearings begin at 9:30 a.m. at the World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St., in San Francisco.