Malaysia, Australia mend relations<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysia and Australia buried the
\nhatchet yesterday, their leaders agreeing Australia had a role to
\nplay in Asia and calling for fresh points of view to renew an old
\nrelationship.<\/p>\n
"Obviously Australia has a role to play in Asia," Malaysian
\nPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said after a 90-minute meeting
\nwith visiting Australian counterpart Paul Keating.<\/p>\n
"But to what extent and how is something that will have to be
\ndetermined both by Australia and the Asian countries."<\/p>\n
Keating's visit, the first by an Australian prime minister in
\n12 years, was delayed for two years after he and Mahathir engaged
\nin verbal fisticuffs in late 1993.<\/p>\n
Mahathir reviled Australians as ill-bred descendants of "ex-
\nconvicts and social discards", after Keating called him a
\n"recalcitrant" for not attending the inaugural summit of the
\nAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the United States in
\nlate 1993.<\/p>\n
Billions of dollars of trade and investment were threatened by
\nthe feud and Keating canceled a planned visit.<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur has blocked Canberra from attending an Asia-
\nEurope summit in Bangkok in March this year, saying it is not
\ngeographically part of Asia, but Keating said he did not raise
\nthe subject of Australia's participation during his talks with
\nMahathir.<\/p>\n
In 1991, relations chilled and trade was endangered over
\ncriticism by Australian groups of Malaysia's internal security
\nand environmental policies, and over an Australian television
\nseries which Mahathir said was critical of Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said he thought Keating now understood Malaysian
\nsensitivities, "but off and on we all as politicians, I suppose,
\nburst out and say things we sometimes regret".<\/p>\n
The visit began inauspiciously on Monday when Keating's aging
\nofficial Boeing 707 jet was forced to land in Darwin because of a
\ncrack in the pilot's window. To some it suggested a metaphor for
\nthe distorted views the countries have had of each other.<\/p>\n
But pearl trader Nick Paspaley, one of the 40 businessmen
\naccompanying Keating on the visit, lent his private Falcon 50
\njet, rescuing the prime minister from an embarrassing delay to
\nhis visit.<\/p>\n
Both prime ministers made the point in their talks that "we
\nall need a contemporary snapshot of societies", Keating told
\nreporters yesterday.<\/p>\n
"And, I think, that old, deep relationships are often not only
\ntaken for granted but the stereotype remains in one's mind about
\nthem," he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if ties with Australia were back on track, Mahathir
\nsaid: "I think so. I think it is as harmonious as it can be."
\nSurging trade, not rising rhetoric, is underpinning the
\nrelationship these days, with two-way trade growing 20 percent
\nannually in recent years.<\/p>\n
Australia is Malaysia's 11th largest trading partner and this
\nyear Malaysia should overtake Britain to rank as the 10th largest
\nexport market for Australian goods, Keating said.<\/p>\n
The two nations have been close since Malaysian independence
\nin 1957 through defense, trade and educational contacts.<\/p>\n
Both are members of the Five Party Defense Arrangements, which
\nalso include Britain, New Zealand and Singapore.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-australia-mend-relations-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}