By Martin Petty
HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of 16 Asia-Pacific countries are meeting in the Thai seaside town of Hua Hin for the ASEAN and East Asia summits, a forum twice postponed because of political unrest.
Trade ties, regional security, disaster relief and human rights are among the issues up for discussion at the annual meetings, which Thailand is determined to complete after a series of embarrassing mishaps.
The East Asia Summit was initially scheduled for December last year but was postponed when anti-government protestors shut down Bangkok's airports. It was moved to Pattaya in April but was subsequently aborted when a rival protest group stormed the summit venue.
WHO WILL ATTEND?
ASEAN -- Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei the Philippines and Indonesia -- meets on Friday. Their leaders will be joined on Saturday by the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea for the ASEAN+3 summit. On Sunday three more countries -- New Zealand, Australia and India -- will join the grouping for the East Asia Summit.
WHICH ECONOMIC ISSUES WILL BE UP FOR DISCUSSION?
ASEAN is seeking to establish an EU-style economic community by 2015 and is due to sign an ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in Hua Hin, which would be a major step toward that goal. ASEAN is also pushing for a free trade zone with Japan, China and South Korea that might expand to other regional players. At least 42 agreements are expected to be signed this week, including the inauguration of an ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade pact and an intellectual property agreement between ASEAN and China, according to Thailand's Foreign Ministry. HOW IS THE ASEAN CHARTER PROGRESSING?
ASEAN adopted a charter two years ago that aims to create a rules-based political, economic and security community. The economic integration is proceeding in fits and starts. The political integration will prove much tougher. ASEAN's much-derided Human Rights Mechanism will be launched in Hua Hin. But with no power to punish members, such as serial rights abuser Myanmar, the watchdog is toothless. As for the security issue, ASEAN is holding meetings with legal experts to discuss the establishment of a Dispute Settlement Mechanism, a contentious issue among ASEAN members, many of which have centuries-old rivalries that occasionally resurface.
WHAT OTHER ASEAN ISSUES ARE ON THE TABLE?
ASEAN is expected to push for greater cooperation on disaster relief. Millions of people were affected in Southeast Asia this month when Typhoon Ketsana tore through the Philippines and parts of Indochina, and a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Sumatra, killing at least 1,000. A declaration on climate change is also due to be adopted, and members will also talk about food security and bio-fuels.
WHAT WILL ASEAN+3 TALK ABOUT?
Leaders are expected to reaffirm their finance ministers' agreement to implement the Chiang Mai Initiative by the end of this year, a Japanese official said. The initiative is a $120 billion web of bilateral swap arrangements aimed at providing emergency liquidity for countries in financial crisis.
WHAT IS THE EAST ASIA SUMMIT?
It came into being in 2005 as an annual meeting among leaders of the 16 Asian nations attending this meeting in Hua Hin. It mainly discusses trade and economic issues, although security, human rights and geopolitical issues often feature in discussions on the sidelines. The grouping is still searching for an identity.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE EAST ASIA COMMUNITY?
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will pitch his version of turning the EAS into an East Asian Community, a proposed EU-style trade bloc but without a common currency, at least not until the distant future. The idea has been batted around since the EAS started four years ago and is still ill-defined. Tokyo envisages the community would bring together the 16 EAS members.
WILL NORTH KOREA BE DISCUSSED?
Three countries involved in the stalled six-party talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament will be in town -- Japan, South Korea and China -- but no substantive talks are expected. Officials from China and India could meet on the sidelines, with talks expected to focus on a long simmering border dispute.
ARE PROTESTS A THREAT TO THE SUMMIT?
More than 18,000 police and members of the armed forces, empowered by a tough Internal Security Act, have set up a no-go zone around Hua Hin to ensure there is no repeat of the chaotic Pattaya meeting, when half of the leaders were evacuated by helicopter and others effectively imprisoned in their hotels.
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Bill Tarrant)