Thai official: ASEAN leaders to re-meet in August
Xinhua 2009-04-11
Thai official: ASEAN leaders to re-meet in August
BANGKOK, April 11 (Xinhua) — The leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet again in Bangkok in August to sign free trade agreements with China and India, Thai media reported Saturday after the cancellation of ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.
The Nation on its website quoted an official from the Commerce Ministry as saying that the two free trade agreements, the ASEAN-China FTA on investment and the ASEAN-India FTA, were originally scheduled to be signed during Saturday’s summits, which has been canceled due to the security concern.
"There should be some discussions on these (agreements) when they are meeting again in August," said the official who asked not to be named, The nation reported.
The ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, scheduled on April 10-12 in Thailand’s resort town Pattaya, have been canceled earlier Saturday because of security reason, the Thai government announced.
The announcement came after the red-shirted protesters broke into the summits venue and the media center, which made the summits impossible.
In the meantime, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Chonburi province, where Pattaya is located.
The leaders of the anti-government red-shirts, or the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship(UDD), had previously threatened to disrupt the ASEAN summits if their demands were not met.
Abhisit on Thursday evening in a national TV address turned down UDD’s demand for his resignation.
So far the latest round of protests by UDD has entered the 17thday, and since March 27 all of the entrances of the Government House in Bangkok have been blocked by the red-shirts, preventing Abhisit and his cabinet ministers from entering to work.
