The Fourth East Asia Summit was held in Cha-am and Hua Hin,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

on October 25, 2009. The

East Asia Summit The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian and Oceanian regions, based on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations#ASEAN Plus Three and A ...

(EAS) is a pan-

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

forum held annually by the leaders of 16 countries in the

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n region. EAS meetings are held after annual

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

leaders' meetings. The Fourth East Asia Summit was rescheduled several times, had its venue changed and one attempt to hold it was cancelled due to the 2008–2009 Thai political crisis. It was finally held on October 25, 2009.

Attending delegations

The 16 countries participating at the head of state and head of government level were: File:Kevin Rudd official portrait.jpg, Kevin Rudd

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

File:Hassanal Bolkiah.jpg,

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

and

File:Hun Sen (2016) cropped.jpg,

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

File:Wen Jiabao 2008.jpg,

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

File:IBSA-leaders Manmohan Singh.jpg,

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

Prime Minister File:20041120-6 bushindonesiamtg1-515h cropped.jpg,

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...

President File:Yukio Hatoyama.jpg, Yukio Hatoyama
Prime Minister File:Bouasone.jpg, Bouasone Bouphavanh
Prime Minister File:Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak 140x190.jpg, Najib Tun Razak
Prime Minister File:TheinSeinASEAN.jpg, Thein Sein
Prime Minister File:John Key headshot.jpg, John Key
Prime Minister File:Gloria Macapagal Arroyo WEF 2009-crop.jpg, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
President File:LeeHsienLoongViet.jpg, Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister File:Lee Myung-bak.png,

Lee Myung bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...

President File:Vejjajivacropped.jpg, Abhisit Vejjajiva
Prime Minister
(Chairperson)

Agenda

World economic conditions were to have been on the agenda of the summit, but by the time of the summit, the immediate crisis had passed. The summit in October 2009 was scheduled to receive a report on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia to potentially establish the world's largest

trading bloc A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Trade blocs can be stand-alon ...

. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia and retired Australian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

Richard Woolcott Richard Arthur Woolcott (born 11 June 1927) is a retired Australian public servant, diplomat, author and commentator. Early years Woolcott was educated at Geelong Grammar School, Cranbrook School and the University of Melbourne, before becomi ...

were to address the summit on regional architecture and the idea of an Asia Pacific community. The members were to consider India's plans for the revival of Nalanda University.

Issues related to staging the fourth EAS

The summit was originally to be held in Bangkok on 17 December 2008. It was announced in late-October 2008 that the summit would be shifted from Bangkok to

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

due to concerns about political unrest in the capital city. It was then announced on 2 December 2008 that due to the

2008 Thai political crisis 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

the summit would be postponed from 17 December 2008 to March 2009. On 12 December 2008 Abhisit Vejjajiva indicated that if he became the next

prime minister of Thailand The prime minister of Thailand ( th, นายกรัฐมนตรี, , ; literally 'chief minister of state') is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed si ...

he would seek to hold the summit in February 2009. In January 2009 it was announced that, although the ASEAN Summit had been scheduled for 27 February 2009 to 1 March 2009, those dates were not convenient for the ASEAN delegates and that the East Asia Summit and the

ASEAN Plus Three ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...

meetings would be held later. The rescheduling of the heads of government/state of the 16 nations caused the EAS to be tentatively rescheduled for April, coinciding with Easter. The revised date meant that a change of venue from Phuket to

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi province, Chonburi. Pattaya City ( ...

was contemplated. The revised date and venue were subsequently confirmed. The venue was to be the Pattaya Exhibition and Conference Hall (PEACH). It was also announced that India would be represented at the summit by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, not its prime minister.

Cancellation of the summit in 2008 and postponement to 2009

On 11 April 2009, anti-Thai government protesters smashed their way into the East Asian summit, forcing the

Prime Minister of Thailand The prime minister of Thailand ( th, นายกรัฐมนตรี, , ; literally 'chief minister of state') is the head of government of Thailand. The prime minister is also the chair of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed si ...

, Abhisit Vejjajiva, to cancel the meeting and evacuate foreign leaders by helicopter. Officials did not say whether or when the summit would resume. Following the cancellation, United Nations Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

expressed regret over the incident. Abhisit Vejjajiva later vowed legal action against anti-government protesters "who reduced a showcase Asian summit to a shambles and exposed the nation to international embarrassment". During the lead up to the summit, there were also several border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. The summit was said to be used as an opportunity for discussions on the sidelines between the respective nations' leaders.

Attendance by leaders

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was en route to the summit from Australia when he was contacted by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and advised to return to Australia. The leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea were airlifted out by their Thai hosts, whilst

New Zealand Prime Minister The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (informa ...

John Key did not make it out of Bangkok airport.

Rescheduling

By late-April the Thai government was looking to reschedule the summit to June 2009 in Phuket.. Summits to be held by June in Phuket There had been earlier reports that Indonesia might seek to host the summit if Thailand could not. Australian press reports suggested it could be held in Vietnam. In early-May Thailand proposed, at a senior officials meeting, the dates of 13–14 June in Phuket, with a promise of a five kilometre "no rally zone" around the venue. This revised date was said to be inconvenient for the leaders of Indonesia, India, and New Zealand. The summit was subsequently confirmed as having been rescheduled for 25 October 2009 in Phuket, but then was moved again to Cha-am and Hua Hin.

Outcomes

The summit adopted two documents. The first was a statement on disaster management. The second related to the re-establishment of Nalanda University by India. The chairman's statement noted:

21. We acknowledged the importance of regional discussions to examine ways to advance the stability and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region. In this connection, we noted with appreciation the following:
(a) the Philippines’s proposal to invite the heads of other regional fora and organizations in Asia-Pacific to future EAS meetings to discuss measures that will protect the region from future economic and financial crisis and strengthen Asia economic cooperation, including through the possible establishment of an economic community of Asia.
(b) Japan's new proposal to reinvigorate the discussion towards building, in the long run, an East Asian community based on the principle of openness, transparency and inclusiveness and functional cooperation.
(c) Australia's proposal on the Asia Pacific community in which ASEAN will be at its core, will be further discussed at a 1.5 track conference to be organized by Australia in December 2009.

The statement of the ASEAN Plus Three meetingChairman's Statement of the 12th ASEAN Plus Three Summit Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand, 24 October 2009
noted that it was "a main vehicle" in building the

East Asian Community The East Asian Community (EAC) is a proposed trade bloc for the East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) countries that may arise out of either ASEAN Plus Three or the East Asia Summit (EAS). Economy History Prior to the EAS The Association of Southe ...

References

External links

14th ASEAN summit
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Asia Summit 04 2009 conferences 2009 in international relations 21st-century diplomatic conferences ASEAN meetings Diplomatic conferences in Thailand October 2009 events in Thailand 2009 in Southeast Asia 2009 in Thailand