Asia-Pacific
US vital in pan-Asian institutions
By Timothy Chui (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-20 08:51
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Hong Kong - The United States must be a part of pan-Asian institutions to safeguard the region's future, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said during a lecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Friday.
Addressing an over-capacity crowd, Rice said that the US, as a Pacific-rim nation, is therefore an Asian power, adding it is an anchor for stability, prosperity and democracy in the region.
"Asia has several institutions but no one institution is capable of doing all that must be done for peace and prosperity in the region," she said.
Building on the September 2005, six-nation talks framework agreement, "there will be a peace and security mechanism for northeast Asia, consisting of the six parties that can deal with issues like proliferation and terrorism and may lead to a peace treaty for the Korean peninsula," Rice said.
She said such an institution would be based on the six party talks that are tasked with addressing North Korea's nuclear program and involves China, Russia, Japan and the US along with Republic of Korea (ROK) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) which are still technically at war.
Such an institution would give its members channels for dialogue about common problems such as tackling cross border issues including narcotics and human trafficking, she said.
It would also allow member countries to share intelligence and better tackle international financial networks funding terrorism, she said.
China Daily
