Aquino's two-pronged campaign in Asean meet

Manila: Issues with China and North Korea are on top of Philippine President Benigno Aquino's list when he meets with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a senior leader said.

Aquino left for Cambodia late on Monday with plans to discuss with Asean leaders problems with China on the contentious South China Sea, and with North Korea which will launch a rocket between April 12 and 16.

Aquino called on Asean leaders to support his country's complaint over North Korea's launch, said a source who requested for anonymity. This would strengthen the complaint aired by the Philippines earlier at the United Nations.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who went ahead to Cambodia's capital in Phnom Penh to attend the Asean foreign ministers' forum, said he has paved the way for Asean's support for the Philippine protest on North Korea.

Asean would be guided by the UN resolution that has categorised North Korea's plan as a violation of a ban on missile launches, said del Rosario in a statement that reached his foreign affairs office in Manila

All Southeast Asian nations were alarmed because North Korea's rocket launch would impact on the region even if its debris would only affect the Philippines and Indonesia in Asean and Australia near Asean, said del Rosario.

He referred to North Korea's announcement earlier that the rocket launch would leave debris "in an area roughly between Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines".