Noy cancels Indon, Vietnam trips; Asean fails to squeeze in visits By Aytch S. de la Cruz 09/01/2010 President Aqu

Noy cancels Indon, Vietnam trips; Asean fails to squeeze in visits By Aytch S. de la Cruz 09/01/2010 President Aquino yesterday abruptly canceled his scheduled trips to Indonesia and Vietnam in the coming weeks citing, as reason, the two countries’ failure to accommodate his visits this month without bumping into his scheduled attendance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York come Sept. 20. Speculation in some quarters was rife that the two Asean countries, Indonesia and Vietnam, may be finding themselves being squeezed into the fallout of the Aquino presidency vis a vis the continued anger shown by China and the Hong Kong residents over the botched hostage rescue operations which have proved embarrassing to the Philippines and President Aquino. The visits to Indonesia and Vietnam were scheduled earlier, And it is usual, protocol-wise, to announce an scheduled visit only after the other foreign governments already agreed to the visit at a scheduled time. Aquino was supposed to visit Indonesia on Sept. 14 and 15 and seek its participation to become one of the third party facilitators in the resumption of the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Vietnam, on the other hand,currently heads the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) and tradition reportedly dictates any newly-elected heads from member nations s to go around the region first before making any foreign visit to the countries located in the west... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100901hed5.html