Asian leaders hail new cooperation after first-ever summit

KUALA LUMPUR, Thursday (AFP) Regional leaders held the first-ever East Asia Summit here trying to find common ground for half the world's population on issues like trade and security.

While the meeting was brief and specifics were few, they hailed the group's efforts to address terrorism, the bird flu threat and a possible free-trade bloc that could one day try to rival Europe and North America.

But there were also concerns about tensions between China and Japan over their wartime history, which cast a shadow over the run-up to the meeting as well to as a parallel Southeast Asian forum earlier in the week.

"The first East Asia Summit was a success, there's no doubt about it," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said of the gathering, which brought together Australia, China, India, Japan and a dozen other nations.

"We all agreed that the East Asia Community will be a reality as cooperation brings us together to grow stronger," he said.Prime Minister John Howard also praised the meeting and played down some comments questioning whether Australia is part of East Asia. He denied that his country was a "junior partner" in the new 16-nation grouping.

"I think we're long past the time when this is the least bit relevant or even interesting," Howard said. "We are accepted for who we are."

Some nations had pressed for the inclusion of Australia, India and New Zealand because of concerns that China could dominate the discussions - and set the tone for the region's future - in the absence of the United States.

But critics said the summit, which also invited Russian President Vladimir Putin as a guest, had widened the membership too far. Russia could become a full member next year."We are not looking for unilateral advantage," Putin said in a brief speech to the summit. "Our credo in Asia is 'equal partnership and mutual benefit'."