Asia-Pacific security forum to promote civilian-military relief coordination during disasters

Asia-Pacific powers opened key security talks Thursday focusing on coordinated civilian-military relief operations during disasters after tens of thousands of people died in the Myanmar cyclone and China earthquake in May. While countries like the United States, Singapore, the Philippines and Australia would be keen on the idea, it is unlikely to go down well with isolationist and suspicious regimes like North Korea and Myanmar — which spurned international help initially after being hit by devastating Cyclone Nargis on May 2. Still, the topic will dominate the daylong talks of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its 16 partners in the annual conference known as the ASEAN Regional Forum, said Singapore spokesman Andrew Tan. "Disaster relief itself will be a key topic of discussions given that two members... [read full story]