Asian Declaration 2000

Manila, Philippines

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ASIAN POLITICAL PARTIES

17-20 September 2000

Introduction

1. We - the heads and special representatives of political parties from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam - met in Manila on 17-20 September 2000, to inaugurate a process of fraternal consultations in order to build bridges of political cooperation and establish networks of mutual benefit in Asia over the first decades of the 21st Century.

2. Our Conference - the first meeting in history of political parties in the continent - includes both majority and leading minority parties, since it is out of their memberships that governments are formed and popular support mobilized for public policies.

3. We regard our collective endeavor as parallel to the efforts of our diplomats, economic and financial ministers, and Heads of State and of Government, to bring about Asia-wide stability, concord, and prosperity. Our aims are to build mutual confidence and fellowship among Asia's political organizations; to seek political consensus through consultation and the sharing of national experience; and to develop political strategies in common to achieve peace and economic prosperity for all our peoples.

A Shared Vision of What Asia can Become

5. We realize our countries' urgent need to deal with the remaining problems of Asian security, recognizing regional stability to be absolutely essential to Asian development.

6. We also recognize our imperative need to develop coordinated responses to the challenges of globalization, particularly our need to draw up new rules to govern relationships between the developed and developing economies under the new global environment.

7. Considering the diversity of our political cultures, we are keenly aware of the limits to what we can agree on at this early stage of our association. But we also recognize we must move together toward a political vision we can share of what our continent can become.

Agenda for Action

8. We proclaim the preliminary elements of this shared vision in this Asian Declaration 2000, which we hereby adopt, and which we enjoin future Conferences to embrace and enrich.

9. We adopt this Agenda for Action as the embodiment of our commitment to work cooperatively - for economic prosperity, good governance and peace that will endure throughout the continent.

10. We believe political parties to be important instruments for carrying out this agenda - through their ability to promote popular participation, build political consensus, and clarify visions of alternative futures.

On Regional Security

11. It is our wish to build a zone of peace, freedom, and prosperity among our peoples that have called us here together.

12.To attain stability in Asia, we reaffirm our adherence to these proven principles of state relationships: 

  12.a. Respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity; and for the right of every state to determine its own political, economic, and social systems:

  12.b. Non-aggression and non-interference in each other's internal affairs;

  12.c. Peaceful settlement of territorial disputes and respect for treaties and international law.

13. We support the steps the ASEAN Regional Forum is taking to build mutual confidence and promote political security dialogue among the Asia-Pacific states.

14. We will cooperate to preserve the regional balance of power in the Asia-Pacific and help maintain sub-regional balances in South Asia and Northeast Asia.

15. We also support global initiatives on arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

16. We appeal to all states to resolve territorial disputes through peaceful dialogue. We welcome warmly the efforts at reconciliation in the Korean peninsula.

17. We will cooperate to further confidence-building, preventive diplomacy and conflict-resolution in Asia - particularly in the South China Sea and in Kashmir.

18. We will initiate and support efforts to achieve Christian-Muslim cooperation and dialogues among cultures and civilizations - initially at the level of political parties and non-government organizations - to help mitigate ethnic, political, and religious conflicts that have spilled over into the 21st Century.

19. We call on our governments to harmonize their laws on combatting human and drug trafficking, terrorism, piracy and other trans-national crimes. 


On Economic and Human Development

20. We seek economic growth not merely because it enables human beings to accumulate material goods, but because it enhances the capabilities of ordinary people and allows greater human freedom.

21. We welcome the revitalization of regional economic growth in the aftermath of the East Asian financial crisis.

22. We support further reform to improve corporate governance, prudential regulation, and banking supervision.

23. We also support closer cooperation among our monetary authorities to prevent future crises; and welcome efforts to establish an Asian Monetary Fund -that would work cooperatively with the International Monetary Fund - and eventually a common currency for the region.

24. We support the efforts of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the East Asia-Latin America Forum (EALAF), and the ASEAN Free Trade Area's efforts to promote free and open trade and investment.

25. We subscribe to open regionalism that would lead eventually to a common market - confident it will enhance Asian competitiveness and generate prosperity all our peoples can share.

26. We regard eradicating mass-poverty from our national societies as the greatest challenge to Asia. In our time, to be poor is to be excluded from the heritage of civilization.

27. The East Asian "economic miracle" has benefited not too many areas in the continent; large segments still live in poverty. We resolve to cooperate to address once and for all Asia's problems of inequity and social exclusion. Opportunities to prosper cannot be the preserve of the few: they must be shared by all.

28. We agree to pursue parallel efforts in our countries to bring down the structural barriers that deny the poor access to proper nutrition, basic social services, a healthy environment, educational opportunities and gainful employment.

29. We pledge to promote the upgrading of our agricultural sectors - both to ensure food security for our peoples and decent living standards for all.

30. We urge our governments to follow responsible fiscal and monetary programs for the benefit of all, the poor in particular.

31. We regard economic development not merely as the expansion of the supply of goods and services but as enhancing the capabilities of people. We pledge to pursue public policies that will foster the growth of the Asian middle class, and enhance the capacities of the vulnerable sectors, particularly the women, the aged, the young, and the handicapped.

32. We note the emergence in the world of a new economy based on open and speedy access to information. To cope with this technological revolution, we urge our governments to enhance the development of Asia's human capital. We recognize universal education as a prime social goal - and accept that our challenge is to adopt learning environments to the new technology.

33. We agree to cooperate among ourselves - and with the governments of developed countries - to eliminate distortions and to stabilize and strengthen global commodity markets.

34. We seek the restructuring of debt of the least developed countries and urge the rich countries to increase their involvement in meeting the development needs of these poorest nations - particularly in the areas of trade, physical infrastructure, human resources, institutional development, and technology transfer.

35. We call on all countries to take active part in safeguarding national cultures and heritage and the global environment, and enjoin them to pursue sustainable development objectives.

On Governance and Political Dialogue

36. We believe governments should nurture political cultures that enable citizens to exercise civic and social responsibility to realize their potential to lead meaningful lives. And for this purpose, we see our own role as that of bringing our governments and citizens together in partnership.

37. We reaffirm our commitment to respect for human rights and dignity - as enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

38. We will undertake to strengthen the capabilities of our national party systems - believing responsible parties can mitigate the deficiencies of representative systems in the developing world - and will seek to enhance the roles of political parties as catalysts of change and instruments of development.

39. We pledge to work with civil society for practical and beneficial reforms that will increase people's participation in governance and politicians' accountability to their constituencies.

40. We resolve to support legislation instituting a system of state subsidies for political parties, where appropriate; to reduce "money politics" and corruption; and to promote greater transparency and accountability in government.

41. To achieve reforms in Asia, we urge that ruling parties and those in the opposition must provide the political will. As governments come and go, political parties must remain - as the mechanisms for the peaceful sharing and constitutional alternation of power.

Toward an Asian Community

42. We proclaim our eventual goal is to achieve a community of interests that will bring about Asia-wide peace, shared prosperity, and enrich the minds and spirits of all our peoples.

43. Recognizing regional groupings to be the building blocks of one world, we welcome warmly the effort of the "ASEAN Plus Three" powers - the ten Southeast Asian states together with China, Japan, and South Korea; and of the South Asian association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - to explore the idea of Asian economic groupings, together with regional arrangements in Western Europe and North America.

44. We encourage the initiatives of the Asian Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO), and allied regional groupings to foster Asia-wide inter­parliamentary dialogue.

45. To enhance economic and political cooperation in Asia, we will encourage and engage in initiatives towards the eventual establishment of an Asian Parliament.

Concluding Statement

46. To advance the objectives of this forum and to guarantee the continuity of our commitment to the Agenda for Action, we agree to meet every two years. The preparation for the next meeting will be delegated to a Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties.

47. Finally, we express our warm appreciation to the Honorable Jose de Venecia of the Philippines, for initiating this historic Manila Meeting and for the excellent arrangements made for our Conference, with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Hanns Seidel Foundation, and the Asian Center for the Study of Democracy.

48. And we further express our sincere gratitude to His Excellency President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Government of the Philippines for the warm hospitality they have extended to us throughout our stay in Manila.

Adopted this 19th day of September 2000, at Manila, Philippines.