Asean door closing over treaty snub

CANBERRA - Australia risks being locked out of a major Asian diplomatic and trade initiative because of its refusal to sign a treaty Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed as a relic of the Cold War.

The Association of South East Asian Nations has made accession to the group's 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation a condition of entry to the East Asia Summit in Malaysia in December.

The summit includes the 10 Asean nations, China, Japan and South Korea.

Canberra has repeatedly refused to consider signing because of fears it may impinge on its US alliance and prevent action on human rights abuses.

Australia has been working to improve its relations with Asia, recently completing free-trade agreements with Thailand and Singapore and moving towards others with Indonesia and Malaysia.

Last week's visits to Canberra by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi helped thaw frosty relations, and next week Howard will fly to China to build on earlier initiatives.

China is also the focus of Australia's annual trade statement, to be released in Canberra today, with hopes of new talks for a free-trade pact with Beijing.

Asean's decision to exclude from the summit countries which do not sign the treaty indicates its symbolic importance, and adds to signs of a swing in China towards the exclusion of Australia.

Sydney Morning Herald Beijing correspondent Hamish McDonald yesterday reported that China was emerging as the main opponent of Australia's joining the East Asian summit, reflecting both disputes over iron ore prices and Canberra's deepening strategic links with Japan, increasingly the focus of protest in China.

Referring to Asean's insistence on treaty membership, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that diplomacy was never as black and white as it was sometimes presented, and that the decision to broaden summit membership was heading in the right direction.