MANILA : Focus on ASEAN

Diplomats are calling it the most important meeting in Asia this year. The Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, the world’s fastest-growing regional economic grouping, opens its first post-Cold War meeting today in the Philippine capital, with the focus on efforts to strengthen Asian security and trade.

While no major initiatives are expected, the 25-year-old group has lots to discuss: the tenuous peace in Cambodia, human rights violations in Myanmar (formerly Burma), conflicting claims on the oil-rich Spratly Islands and the nuclear threat from North Korea. Joining the talks late in the week will be the seven so-called “dialogue partners,” including the Unite States, Japan and the European Community. Also arriving, for the first time as official “guests” of ASEAN, are the foreign ministers of China and Russia.