CICA summit expected to focus on new security concept

Heads of state from 11 Asian countries and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are scheduled to meet in Shanghai on Wednesday to discuss security measures in Asia, with analysts believing this year's summit will focus on forging a new security concept on Asia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to propose a keynote speech on Wednesday in front of representatives from 46 countries and international organizations at the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), for which China will be the host country from 2014 to 2016.

Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times that China is likely to propose the new security concept on Asia during the summit.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping earlier described the three targets of the Shanghai summit as promoting communication and trust among relevant parties, gathering consensus and wisdom, and discussing ways to solve pressing issues for Asia, Xinhua said.

CICA was proposed by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992, in an effort to promote peace, security and stability in Asia. It now has 26 member states, the latest being Qatar and Bangladesh. Representatives of the two countries signed to join the summit on Tuesday.

"CICA is the biggest multilateral forum on security in Asia," said Guo Xiangang, Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies.

Unlike APEC and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also discuss economic issues, CICA is devoted solely to security issues in Asia, Guo said.

"Previously the Six-Party Talks was given much hope in addressing security issues in East Asia and even all of Asia, but not after it encountered major difficulties. This is why CICA is especially important today," Guo noted.

Guo's opinion was echoed by Pan Guang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, who told the Global Times that CICA is likely to fill the void to become the first overall platform that involves the whole of Asia.

The conference is held at a time when Asia is confronted with a slew of security and safety threats.

"Apart from traditional security issues such as territory disputes and internal conflicts, Asia is also facing threats of terrorism, extremism and separatism as well as conflicts owing to the imbalance of development in the region," said Shen Dingli, Vice Dean of the Insitute of International Affairs, Fudan University.

"Countries in Asia also tend to form small political cliques, and Asia's security is often interfered with by outside countries," Shen said.

Shen believed China's past experiences in dealing security matters with neighboring countries such as Russia, India, Middle Asian countries and North Korea could benefit other Asian countries.

But so far, experts say the role of CICA is still limited as the summit is not recognized as an international organization and the agreement reached in the forum is not legally binding.

"As a forum, CICA's actual effect on security in Asia is still modest. China is expected to help raise the international status of the summit and make it a more influential and legally binding conference," Zhao said. Ban Ki-moon's attendance shows the UN is now attaching importance to the summit, he said.

The summit, together with the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting, to be held in Beijing this November, is expected to be the two most important events on China's diplomatic calendar this year.