`Abandon arrogant views of Asia'

`Abandon arrogant views of Asia'

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Europe must change its arrogant attitudes
toward Asia if it is to improve ties with the region, Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

"There can be no real movement towards 'a partnership of
equals' until there is a greater equalization of humility and the
disappearance of what some will call incredible arrogance,"
Mahathir said at a Europe/East Asia economic conference here.

"The age of hegemony has not yet quite passed. It should die
away," he said. "Fundamental to the new partnership of equals
that the European Commission talks about is a mental revolution,"
he said.

Europe, anxious for a share in Asia's rapidly growing
economies, said last week it has proposed a "coordinated program
of public relations" to raise the European Union (EU)'s profile
in Asia.