The proposals at the meeting in Thailand come as the fractious region seeks to reduce its dependence on the United States and boost its global clout after recovering from the financial crisis more quickly than the West.

"The old growth model where, simply put, we have still to rely on consumption in the West for goods and services produced here, we feel will no longer serve us," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented his counterparts with his vision for an Asia-Pacific Community, possibly by 2020, while Japanese leader Yukio Hatoyama pushed his rival plan for an East Asian Community.

Rudd's scheme includes the direct involvement of the United States and measures on disaster management and climate change. Hatoyama's proposal is more flexible and focused on economic cooperation.

Abhisit said leaders at the resort of Hua Hin, which grouped the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, "listened carefully and attentively" to the plans.

"There will be an ongoing process to flesh out those concepts," Abhisit said in his closing remarks, adding that there would be a meeting in Australia in December to discuss Rudd's idea.

Rudd said the region showed an "openness to a discussion about how we evolve our regional architecture into the future." He said he had suggested a possible target of 2020.

The Japanese premier set no time limit but has urged East Asian nations to integrate and aspire to "lead the world".

Leaders signed pacts Sunday on boosting integration and cooperating on global warming and tackling natural disasters. They also said in a statement that they should find "co-ordinated positions" ahead of meetings like the G20.

But the Asian heads of state faced fresh criticism over human rights -- especially in military-ruled Myanmar -- while the summit was hit by a series of border disputes.

The launch Friday of what the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) hailed as a "historic" rights commission was overshadowed by the barring of several campaigners from a meeting with the region's leaders.

Activists then slammed the Asian leaders for failing to press for the release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest in August.

Thailand's Abhisit said Myanmar premier Thein Sein had told his counterparts on Sunday that the ruling junta "feels optimistic that she (Suu Kyi) can also contribute to the process of national reconciliation."

The Thai leader denied the group had softened its stance on Myanmar, saying that it had pushed for fair elections there next year and adding that the United States in particular was following ASEAN's policy of engagement.

Indian premier Manmohan Singh said there was an "atmosphere of hope" about a recent warming of ties between Washington and Myanmar's generals.

Singh meanwhile said he and Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao had agreed at talks on Saturday to work towards lowering tensions in a long-running border dispute that had also clouded the summit.

Beijing has registered its annoyance with New Delhi at a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed Indian border state, and to a proposed visit to the territory by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The two Asian giants fought a war in the area in 1962.

Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia however remained at loggerheads over the fate of fugitive former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, after Cambodian premier Hun Sen offered him a job as his economic adviser.

Around 18,000 troops were deployed in Hua Hin after the Asian summit was twice postponed by protests, most recently when supporters of the exiled Thaksin stormed the venue in Pattaya, forcing the evacuation of VIPs.

The chairmanship of ASEAN will pass to Vietnam at the end of December.

earlier related report
Japan urges US to respect 'will of the people' over base
Japan told the United States on Thursday to respect its democratic process in a row over a US base and that the issue would not be resolved before President Barack Obama's visit next month.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was speaking a day after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly pressed Tokyo to "move on" quickly with previously agreed plans to build a new US airbase on southern Okinawa island.

The issue has clouded the US-Japan security alliance since a centre-left government took power in Tokyo five weeks ago, vowing a less subservient relationship with Washington after half a century of conservative rule.

Japan's new government has said it will review an agreement to build the new base by 2014 -- a project opposed by many Okinawans who object to the US troop presence and complain of aircraft noise and the risk of accidents.

"The will of the people of Okinawa and the will of the people of Japan was expressed in the elections," Okada said on television, predicting that the issue won't be resolved before Obama's scheduled November 12-13 visit.

"I don't think we will act simply by accepting what the US tells us, just because the US is saying this, in such a short period of time."

The United States, which defeated Japan in World War II and then occupied the country, now has 47,000 troops stationed there, more than half of them on Okinawa, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Their presence has often caused friction with the local community, especially when American servicemen have committed crimes.

A flashpoint has been the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base, located in a crowded urban area.

Under a 2006 bilateral agreement, the heliport functions of the base would be moved to a coastal area of Okinawa by 2014, while 8,000 Marines would be moved to Guam in a relocation to be partly financed by Japan.

However, the new government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his left-leaning and pacifist coalition partners have advocated reviewing the deal and suggested the base be moved out of Okinawa or even out of Japan.

Gates, on a Tokyo visit Wednesday, publicly stressed "the importance of moving forward expeditiously on the roadmap as agreed."

The Yomiuri daily reported that the Pentagon chief had told Okada that Japan should approve the base move before Obama's visit.

Okada said on Thursday that Gates had "pressed and said Japan and the United States had negotiated this issue for as many as 13 years".

"But I told him that we, as an opposition party, had opposed the plan for those years," the foreign minister told Tokyo Broadcasting System Television.

"In the last general election, those opposing the current relocation plan won all the four constituencies on Okinawa. This shows the people's democratic will at this moment."

He added: "I have to question an attitude of insisting that this has been already decided and that there is no option but to implement it."

An analyst warned Japan should not take Washington's position lightly.

"Gates came here to remove a sticking point before Obama's visit," said Takehiko Yamamoto, professor of international politics at Waseda University.

"Washington's global strategy, and Okinawa's geopolitical significance, remain the same, even after the (US) administration changed," he said.

The US bases in Okinawa help the superpower with three major security objectives, he said -- "to counter terrorism, to contain China and Russia, and to tackle the threat of North Korea."

"Washington will probably think that Japan's new administration does not realise the significance of Okinawa," he said. "It may be inevitable that it will grow to distrust Japan as a reliable partner."

Okada, in his TV interview, also said the base issue should be resolved by the end of the year for local Okinawans.

"This discussion started in the first place because the current Futenma Air Base is extremely dangerous for local residents. We need to hurry to remove the danger."

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News