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NEWS - EU's Ambitious Goals for Coo
- Subject: NEWS - EU's Ambitious Goals for Coo
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 19:41:00
Subject: NEWS - EU's Ambitious Goals for Cooperation with Asia
Rights-Europe: EU's Ambitious Goals for Cooperation with Asia
Inter Press Service
30-MAR-99
BONN, (Mar. 29) IPS - Despite persistent differences on
human rights, the European Union (EU) has made it clear
it
has ambitious goals for closer and sustainable
cooperation
with Asia.
This, according to German foreign minister Joschka
Fischer,
might in the long run also lead to the creation of "a
stable
world financial and monetary system" and the
establishment
of a "Euro-Asian free trade zone."
Fischer chaired a one-day meeting in Berlin today of 15
EU
foreign ministers and their counterparts from ten Asian
countries: Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and
Vietnam.
Overhanging the discussions was the fact that NATO
warplanes went into the sixth day of their offensive
against
Yugoslavia, which has been opposed by China and Russia,
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The U.S.-led allies that have joined the air strikes
include
Britain and France, the two other permanent Security
Council members, as well as Germany, Italy and Spain.
Fischer explained that NATO's main concern was to put an
end to the human tragedy in Kosovo which had been
unleashed by the actions undertaken by the government of
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
This was the second so-called Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
of foreign ministers convened by Germany which holds the
six-monthly EU presidency until the end of June.
ASEM was set up in Bangkok in 1996 by the heads of state
and government of 10 Asian and 15 European countries,
together with the European Commission, with a view to
fostering political dialogue, reinforcing economic
cooperation, and promoting coordination in a wide range
of
other issues.
Stressing the significance of ASEM -- which held its
second
summit in London last year under the British presidency
--
Fischer said the enlarged EU and East Asia, taken
together,
would account for almost 50 percent of the world
population
and more than half of the global economic output.
"Both regions will thus be among the heavyweights of the
multi polar world of the 21st century," he added. "The
more
we coordinate and cooperate with one another, the more we
will be able to make our mark on the world's destinies,"
the
German foreign minister pointed out.
"Our approach is not about excluding anybody and, lest of
all, as some suspect, about creating a counterweight to
the
United States," he explained. "Rather, we aim to
establish an
open partnership which will benefit not only our two
regions
but will also make a contribution towards mastering the
global and momentous tasks facing humankind."
Observers noted that Fischer -- a member of the Green
Party which, while in opposition, has been vocal on human
rights -- was at pains to take into account Asian
sensitivities
on human rights, without avoiding the controversial
issue.
The European Union insisted that Burma be kept out of
participating in the EU-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting
because of the treatment meted out to democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
This plea was rejected by the ASEM members of the
ASEAN. Subsequently the meeting scheduled for tomorrow
was cancelled.
Suu Kyi's husband Aris died on Mar. 27 in a London
hospital
on his 53rd birthday. He was not permitted to visit his
wife, a
Nobel Prize laureate in Burma.
The German foreign minister said the key lesson to be
learned from the Asian economic crisis was that good
governance based on human rights, the division of power,
a
functioning legal and constitutional democracy as well as
the
protection of environment, were the best prerequisite in
Asia
for peace and successful economic development.
Those East Asian countries which had a firm democratic
foundation in place when the crisis hit, or who launched
democratic and rule-of-law reforms in its wake, either
had felt
relatively few repercussions of the crisis or recovered
from it
sooner than expected, Fischer noted.
"When we Europeans keep underlining the importance of
human rights, this has nothing to do with interference or
Western arrogance," Fischer said.
His words, according to observers, were an attempt to
bolster discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang
Yiaxuan who has been in Germany since Mar. 26.
Bonn Foreign Office sources said that tang had admitted
"deficits" in the rights situation in his country, but
had stated
that "the situation was improving with every passing
day."
The Chinese plea for adherence to mutual respect while
talking in particular about human rights was backed by
the
Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, who is one of the
two
ASEM coordinators along with his South Korean counterpart
Hong Soon-Young.
South Korea was scheduled to host ASEM 3 next year,
building upon the agreements achieved last year in London
which envisaged openness and transparency, a commitment
to financial restructuring -- both domestically and
internationally, and the keeping open of
markets in both Europe and Asia.
ASEM 2 adopted an Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework to
guide, focus and coordinate ASEM activities towards ASEM
3 and beyond.
With venues alternating between Asia and Europe, the
fourth
ASEM will be held in Europe in 2002. The meeting also
decided to continue discussions on the possible expansion
of ASEM membership in the future.
The Asia-Europe Vision Group was commissioned by ASEM
2 to help develop a medium to long-term vision to guide
the
ASEM process.
The Group set up three working groups: man and society,
market and governance.
According to official sources, the ASEM discussions in
Berlin
revealed "a greater proximity" on economic and financial
questions than on foreign and security policy.
Nevertheless, the two sides discussed many of the "new"
security issues such as terrorism, drugs, the security of
computer networks, the green house effect.
The expectation at the German presidency of the EU was
that Europe and Asia would increasingly share the same
agenda in foreign policy. "This includes traditional
threats to
security, as shown by the nuclear tests on the Indian
subcontinent, Fischer declared.
"In this field in particular, we urgently need joint
action to
effectively curb the horrific dangers inherent in a
further
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their
delivery vehicles worldwide," the German foreign minister
said.
Three of the ASEM members -- Britain, France and China --
are nuclear power states, having a permanent seat in the
United Nations Security Council, which was instituted to
prevent war and strengthen worldwide diplomacy.