U.S.-ASEAN summit to be held in Singapore Sept. 5

WASHINGTON, June 22 Kyodo

U.S. President George W. Bush and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will hold their first summit in Singapore on Sept. 5, a top State Department official said Friday.

Eric John, deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the revelation in a speech in Washington. The summit precedes an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic forum Sept. 8-9 in Sydney, which Bush will attend.

The 10-member ASEAN has long sought a summit with the United States but failed to materialize one, primarily owing to Washington's aversion to Myanmar's poor record on human rights and democracy.

This year has been a major target as it commemorates the 30th anniversary of their dialogue relationship that began in 1977. ASEAN already has annual summit meetings with other so-called dialogue partners such as Japan, China and South Korea.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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