Terrorism high on Asia talks agenda

Date: 06/06/02

By David Cronin

TWO contrasting images of Asia flicker across European TV screens this week. Football fans are rising at dawn to be captivated by the World Cup broadcasts from Japan and South Korea. More ominously, then, news bulletins dwell on whether the tensions simmering between India and Pakistan could boil over into an all-out war.

Neither of those two governments will be represented at the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM) of foreign ministers in Madrid today and tomorrow (6-7 June). But their bickering will not be far from its participants' minds.

The historical enmity and nuclear capability of both states make discussion about their dispute unavoidable, even if no prescription on resolving it will be offered.

Indeed, finding solutions isn't what the whole deal is about.

Established at a Bangkok summit in 1996, ASEM is officially described as 'an informal process of dialogue and cooperation' between the EU and ten Asian states - China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Brunei. The ten have a combined population of two billion.

It would be easy, of course, to dismiss an organisation that stresses its informality as a powerless talking shop. But ASEM's defenders believe talk is exactly what is needed in this uncertain world.

Not surprisingly, the fight against terrorism features prominently on the Madrid agenda. Ministers are expected to rally behind an idea tabled by Beijing to hold a series of conferences next year on addressing the causes of extremist violence. Related discussions are set to be held on bridging the gaps between differing cultures.

'We want to see what we can do to avoid misunderstanding in the aftermath of 11 September,' remarked a Brussels official working on EU-Asia relations. 'We don't want to jump to the conclusions that all Islamic guys are terrorists.'

Although the EU delegation is unlikely to upbraid George W. Bush in strident terms at Madrid, some attention will probably be drawn to transatlantic differences over how 'pariah' states should be treated. This will be particularly so in the case of Korea.

Diplomats say the ministers will probably agree a declaration supporting the 'sunshine policy' of dialogue with North Korea pursued by President Kim Dae Jung in Seoul. This would be completely at odds with claims by the White House that Pyongyang joins Tehran and Baghdad in an 'axis of evil'.

A debate on human rights is foreseen, with some EU participants due to voice fears that 11 September is being used as a pretext for repressive practices in Asia. One European Commission source said, though, the issue will be raised in a 'delicate way'.

'All ministers will try to avoid discussions which could move us apart,' the aide explained. 'The goal right now is to keep the alliance against terrorism together.'

Many campaign groups believe, however, that ASEM shouldn't shirk controversial questions. The secretary-general of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, Govindasamy Rajasekaran, told a Brussels conference last month that his country's government had cracked down on opposition figures with greater force since the atrocities in New York and Washington.

In a globalised economy, at least some of Malaysia's problems can be blamed on external factors, he argued. As a result, an international strategy is needed to help solve them and ASEM would be a suitable forum to tease out this possibility.

The strong performance of the far-right in recent European elections will provide the backdrop for the discussions on migration at Madrid. This will follow up April's ASEM talks in Lanzarote.

Speaking on behalf of Spain's EU presidency, Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy then said that the Union wants to reach repatriation accords with countries which are the major source of illegal immigrants. This question is expected to be one of the dominant themes at September's summit of ASEM leaders in Copenhagen.

Former Commission President Jacques Santer last week lamented how many populous Asian states - including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - are not incorporated into ASEM.

He said that he grew 'frustrated' during his term leading the EU executive when he tried to bring New Delhi and Islamabad into the ASEM fold. China, Thailand and Vietnam did 'not give a positive response', Santer claimed.

Ironically, then, most of the ten Asian nations feel it is the EU that is hindering ASEM's expansion. More than a year ago Burma, Laos and Cambodia applied for ASEM membership.

The general consensus among the ten is that those three should be allowed to join together. But the EU has vetoed Burma's membership due to the brutal record of its military junta.

Preview of the Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM), Madrid, 6-7 June 2002.