Australia's Howard presses case for closer Asian ties<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Australian Prime Minister John Howard pressed his case for closer
\nties with Asian countries in an interview published here on
\nWednesday, dismissing concerns over Canberra's links with
\nWashington and threats of pre-emptive military action in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Fresh from hosting the Indonesian president earlier this week,
\nHoward spoke to the New Straits Times ahead of a visit to
\nAustralia by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday --
\nthe first by a Malaysian leader in more than 20 years of
\nsometimes frosty relations.<\/p>\n
\"My view is that Australia's future success is fundamentally
\nbased on its global engagement and there is no doubt that deeper
\nand stronger ties with the countries of Asia are a vital part of
\nthat,\" Howard said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Australia could be a real partner with Asian
\ncountries given its strong alliance with the United States,
\nHoward pointed out that several Asian countries, such as Japan
\nand South Korea, had similar links with Washington.<\/p>\n
\"So I don't see the distinction between being allied to the
\nUnited States on the one hand and working in partnership with
\nAsian countries on the other,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, repeatedly
\nrebuffed Australia's attempts to join Asian economic and
\npolitical groupings, scorning Howard as Washington's \"deputy
\nsheriff\" in the region.<\/p>\n
Abdullah, who took over when Mahathir retired in October 2003,
\nhas taken a less confrontational line but complained in an
\ninterview with Australian television on Sunday that Howard's
\ngovernment was too focused on its alliance with the United States
\nto fit fully into Asia.<\/p>\n
Howard said later that he still believed ties between the two
\ngovernments would be better under Abdullah than they had been
\nunder Mahathir, and he told the New Straits Times Abdullah's
\nvisit was \"very significant and most welcome\".<\/p>\n
Fundamental links between the two countries had always been
\nstrong, he said, and last year total bilateral trade was nearly
\nA$10 billion (US$7.6 billion), an increase of nearly 25 percent
\nover the previous year.<\/p>\n
Abdullah, in his interview with Australian television, also
\ncriticized Howard for raising the prospect of taking unilateral
\naction against armed extremists' bases in the region.<\/p>\n
Howard told the New Straits Times that any such action would
\ninvolve collaboration with other countries.<\/p>\n
\"On the concept of pre-emption, I find that most leaders agree
\nwith the commonsense principle that if you came to know that, for
\nexample, a terrorist group was going to attack your country, you
\nwould do everything you could, in collaboration with neighbors
\nand friends, to prevent that attack before your people were
\nharmed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hailed a \"new
\nera\" of relations with Australia on his visit on Monday and
\nannounced that he would press his fellow Southeast Asian leaders
\nto accept Australia into Asian-bloc talks later this year.<\/p>\n
But Howard might find more resistance from Abdullah. His
\ndeputy, Najib Razak, said last month Australia should be excluded
\nfrom an East Asia Summit to be held here in December.<\/p>\n
The summit aims to build cooperation between the 10-member
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan, South Korea and
\nChina as part of a move towards an East Asian Community.<\/p>",
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