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Asean, Japan back

continued US mly

presence in Asia

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Asean members and Japan on Thursday backed a continued US military presence in Asia to help preserve stability in a region troubled by territorial disputes after the Cold War.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and seven major partners held a news conference after two days of talks on a range of issues topped by renewed nuclear testing by France and China in the region.

The dialogue ended a week-long conference during which Vietnam was admitted as Asean's first socialist member. Security problems were discussed in a forum on Tuesday that included North American and European nations.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said the region now enjoys economic growth in part because of "mutual trust" generated by the Asean, a former anti-communist alliance whose annual meeting has become a central arena for regional diplomacy.

The last US troops in Southeast Asia quit the Philippines in 1992, but American troops remain in Japan and South Korea, and Washington maintains key defense alliances with the Philippines and Thailand.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who left Thursday to continue a Southeast Asian swing, had told Asean members that Washington will continue stationing 100,000 troops in Asia, at par with US force levels in Europe.

He called on rival claimants to the Spratly islands to work out a settlement and volunteered US assistance in the process.-AFP