Britain to broaden ties with SE Asia
Britain to broaden ties with SE Asia
SINGAPORE (AFP): Britain will unveil its blueprint for broader political and business ties with Southeast Asia when Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind starts an official visit here, officials said yesterday.
Rifkind arrives here today for a four-day visit, during which he will attend talks between foreign ministers from the seven- member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 15- nation European Union.
He will also meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen to discuss the Hong Kong question on the sidelines of a broader Asia-Europe dialogue.
On arrival, Rifkind will deliver a keynote address on "Britain and Southeast Asia -- A Lasting Relation" at the invitation of a Singapore think tank, the Institute of Policy Studies.
During the function, Rifkind is also to launch an "action agenda" calling for stepped-up bilateral and business ties with Singapore, officials said.
The plan is associated with a regional initiative to be unveiled by Britain later this year aimed at boosting economic and commercial ties with Southeast Asia, a British official said.
Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, three of the seven ASEAN members, are former British colonies. The other ASEAN members are Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The talks will be followed Saturday by a broader meeting involving China, Japan and South Korea, part of preparations for a second summit in London next year of the so-called Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
A British High Commission statement yesterday said Rifkind would also hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other countries, including China's Qian Qichen.
Their talks are expected to focus on Hong Kong, which reverts to Chinese rule in July after more than 150 years of British colonial rule.
Reports from London said although concern over the provisional legislature China has appointed for Hong Kong will be paramount in his talks with Qian, human rights and democracy were also high on Rifkind's agenda.
A Singapore foreign ministry statement said Rifkind would hold talks today with his Singaporean counterpart Shanmugam Jayakumar on Britain's plans to step up relations with the city state.
Rifkind and Singapore's finance minister Richard Hu are also scheduled to sign a revised bilateral double taxation agreement on Wednesday.
Britain is Singapore's 1Oth largest trading partner, with trade totaling S$10.05 billion (US$7.18 billion) last year, according to government statistics here.
Rifkind will also attend the meeting between ASEAN and EU foreign ministers tomorrow and Friday to discuss ways of broadening their political, economic and cultural ties.
From Singapore, Rifkind travels Saturday to Hong Kong, his "last substantive visit" to the colony before spring general elections in Britain, and Hong Kong's handover to China.