Australia is approaching ASEAN

Australia is approaching ASEAN

Lee Kim Chew, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

With Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad preparing to bow out of office next year, could Australia join ASEAN? The question from an Australian reporter at Dr Mahathir's press conference last Wednesday sounded facetious, but it was not entirely out of turn.

Nor was his reply. "Once you become Asian, we will think about that," said the Malaysian leader, who had for years blocked the Australians from getting closer to ASEAN.

Unlike the previous Labor government which spared no effort to move Australia closer to ASEAN, Prime Minister John Howard takes a different tack.

This has fueled the debate over Australia's policy on Asia espoused by the Liberal-National coalition government.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said recently: "The big lie perpetuated by some about our government is that, somehow, we have not paid enough attention to the Asia-Pacific region. The fact is that since 1997, we have sought to restore some of the balance in our foreign policy and to get away from an Asia-only focus to an Asia-first focus."

The distinction matters. If there is anything which makes the Howard government's Asia policy markedly different from Labor's, it is his declaration last month that Australia is America's "best friend".

It reinforced perceptions that ASEAN countries were never high on his government's foreign-policy agenda. Significantly, his government was the first to back America's controversial doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against states which support terrorist attacks and are suspected of developing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Iraq is a prime target.

Howard's unstinting support and close alignment with Washington has raised questions even among Australians. Derek Woolner, a former defense adviser to the Federal Parliament and a visiting fellow at the Australian Defense Studies Center, notes that while pre-emptive strikes make good policy, there are consequences for Australia.

He writes: "One of these is opinion in the Muslim world. America's concerns are blatantly subjective. They do not extend to the nuclear weapons of Israel or India, nor to the 'Islamic' bomb of Pakistan. Understandable, as these countries are allied. In the Muslim world, however, America's position is likely to be seen as anti-Islamic... This may matter little to some factions within the Bush administration.

Howard's support to start a trilateral security dialogue with the United States and Japan has also caused unease in Beijing, which has condemned it as a move to contain China.

Australian officials play down the significance of the security talks. Downer said recently: "We don't support the policy of containment of China. We support the policy of engagement with China. We're not interested in an Asian NATO or a strategy of containment of China. It's just an opportunity for the United States, Japan and Australian officials to talk about regional security issues."

He will have to convince China about Canberra's good intentions.

In any case, Australia wants to establish contacts with the Chinese military and resume bilateral defense talks on arms control and disarmament, which China suspended in 2000 after Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile visited Taiwan.

There is no agreement yet on when the defense talks would resume, but Canberra is anxious to re-open them to ease Chinese suspicions about the proposed trilateral security dialogue which will take place later this year.

There is another reason why China figures high on Canberra's agenda. Australia, which is reviewing its foreign and trade policies, is eying China's vast markets. It wants to set up a framework to boost trade and investments with China, its third- largest trading partner, in new areas such as financial services, besides agriculture.

One of Howard's aims during his visit to China in May was to secure a A$26-billion (S$25.5-billion) LNG gas supply contract with Beijing.

Does all this mean that the Howard government has sidelined ASEAN in its foreign policy? Apparently not. Despite its difficult relations with the Indonesians, Canberra has signed a pact with Jakarta to exchange information to combat terrorism.

Howard's self-appointed role as the region's deputy sheriff during the East Timor fracas in 1999 had never gone down well with the Indonesians.

Australian officials know that Jakarta's wounded pride and the loss of East Timor would take time to heal.

With Singapore, the Australians are about to sign a free-trade pact, and Thailand is following suit.

Australia wants to advance its security and economic interests through the ASEAN Regional Forum and Apec, both ASEAN-driven forums. Downer said it was important for Australia and ASEAN to forge a closer economic partnership because this would create a more substantial economic mass for them to compete with China.

This does not mean that Canberra's ties with ASEAN are going to be trouble-free. Already, some Australians are criticizing Malaysia and Indonesia for using the war against terrorism as a pretext to crack down on political opponents.

Between ASEAN countries and Australia, there is a cultural as well as political divide that gets accentuated with each controversy, if left unbridged. The debate over Asian values, for instance, is seen by some Australians as an excuse for Asian autocrats to justify their rule.

ASEAN and Australia: Will the twain be better matched? After Mahathir, perhaps.