Germany's Schroeder woos Southeast Asia<\/p>\n
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder began Europe's courtship of
\nSoutheast Asia on Monday, meeting Malaysian Prime Minister
\nMahathir Mohamad for talks aimed at building economic and
\npolitical ties.<\/p>\n
Schroeder, who will visit three other countries in the region
\nthis week, is beating a path that French President Jacques Chirac
\nand Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to follow.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian foreign ministry confirmed on Monday
\nthat Chirac and Putin would visit Indonesia sometime this year.<\/p>\n
Like all three European leaders, Malaysia's Mahathir firmly
\nopposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, preferring a United Nations
\nsolution to its weapons crisis, a subject Schroeder only touched
\non in his set-piece speech.<\/p>\n
\"The United Nations is the best venue to discuss and debate
\nthe threats and challenges facing the world community as a
\nwhole,\" he said, without mentioning Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"It is above all the United Nations through which
\ninternational law, the instrument to regulate our international
\nrelations, must be safeguarded and developed,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Schroeder trimmed his Asia tour to allow for a meeting in
\nBerlin on Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, the
\nmost senior U.S. official to visit Germany since relations soured
\nover Berlin's vocal opposition to the invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n
Schroeder is the first German chancellor to visit Malaysia,
\nand while the two countries are not major trading partners,
\nGerman firms, led by industrial giant Siemens AG, are chasing
\nmajor deals in the country.<\/p>\n
Siemens President and Chief Executive Officer Heinrich von
\nPierer made the trip out to Kuala Lumpur. Siemens is taking over
\nan existing Malaysian rail deal worth 100 million euros (US$113.4
\nmillion). It already has a 71 million euro stake in the Malaysian
\nproject, which is part of a grand plan for a rail link from
\nSingapore to China.<\/p>\n
Schroeder heads home on May 16, after visits to Singapore,
\nIndonesia and Vietnam. -- Reuters<\/p>",
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