Taipei - Taiwan's right-wing opposition rallied thousands in Taipei Saturday to protest President Ma Ying-jeou's pro-China policies and the island's economic downturn.

The march, organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), criticized Ma's alleged selling out of Taiwan's interests to China and Taiwan's economic downturn.

Ma took office in May after his Chinese Nationalist Party swept back into power in the March 22 presidential elections, ending the DPP's 8-year rule.

Beijing - Asian and European leaders plan to urge Myanmar's military rulers to be more tolerant toward opposition political parties and release political prisoners, according to a draft summit statement seen Friday.

The leaders attending the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting would urge Myanmar to "engage all stakeholders in an inclusive political process in order to achieve national reconciliation and economic and social development."

Beijing  - A plan will be finalized "as soon as possible" for a foreign exchange reserve of 80 billion dollars for 10 South-East Asian and three East Asian nations, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said on Friday.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the opening of a summit of Asian and European leaders, Bolkiah said there was "fear of economic meltdown" that was "compelling us to address this issue immediately."

Beijing  - Asian and European leaders plan to call for new goals to fight climate change up to 2012 to be agreed by the end of next year, according to a draft summit statement seen Friday.

"Leaders welcomed the substantial progress made at the climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007," said the draft "chair's statement" from the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting, which opened Friday.

"They confirmed their commitment to securing an ambitious, effective and comprehensive agreed outcome now, up to and beyond 2012, by the end of 2009 on the basis of the Bali road map," said the draft, which is scheduled to be issued on Saturday at the close of the summit.

Beijing, Oct 24 : Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has said that his country’s President Asif Ali Zardari’s statement describing the Kashmiri fighters as “terrorists” was not exactly what he meant, as the definition of terrorism was not satisfactorily resolved yet.

Beijing - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged greater transparency and firmer controls over financial markets as part a solution to the global financial turmoil.

Merkel made a four-point proposal to Asian and European leaders discussing the financial crisis in Beijing, according to an advance copy of her speech.

She listed greater transparency in financial markets as the highest priority for supporting a global recovery.

Second on the list of proposals to 45 leaders at the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was the need for a new structure of incentives.