Cohen arrives in KL on 1st leg of East Asian tour

Cohen arrives in KL on 1st leg of East Asian tour

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen arrived here yesterday at the start of an 11-day Asian tour aimed at reassuring the region of support in tough times and urging them towards the "responsible" handling of labor unrest.

Accompanied by an entourage of about 60 people including several senior officials and a large group of reporters, Cohen was greeted at the airforce base on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia's armed forces chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Nawi Alias, a U.S. spokesperson said.

Cohen, who will also visit Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea, is to meet Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim before holding talks with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Defense Minister Syed Hamid Albar today.

He will also deliver a speech on practical steps for security and defense cooperation at a regional security conference before leaving for Jakarta tomorrow, where the Indonesian military last week called for calm after a new plunge in the rupiah sparked panic buying at stores and prompted rumors that a coup was being planned.

"There is a sense right now of vulnerability, of uncertainty, and they are looking to the United States for our determination to remain involved. And that's what this trip is about," a senior Pentagon official said Thursday in Washington.

The U.S. rapprochement with China, Washington's greatest long- term security challenge in the region, remains a central focus of the trip, the first to Beijing by a U.S. defense secretary since 1994.

But since the visit was first scheduled in November, then postponed because of trouble with Iraq, financial turmoil has transformed the regional outlook.

"The message of this visit is that the United States has a strong interest in security in Asia," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said in Washington last week, noting the presence of 100,000 U.S. troops in the region.

"We want to work with countries throughout Asia, to maintain peace and stability in the region. Economic stability is a very important part of general stability in the region," he said.

A senior Pentagon official who asked not to be named said Cohen would urge "responsible" handling of labor unrest and make clear that Washington supports working out less onerous terms for existing arms contracts with U.S. companies.

Thailand is already seeking to stretch out payments for eight F/A-18s it purchased for $400 million. South Korea is reported to have shelved plans to buy US C-17s and coast radar systems.

In China, Cohen will meet President Jiang Zemin and hold discussions with Chinese leaders on developments in the Gulf, the Korean peninsula and the economic crisis in Southeast Asia.

He intends to press the Chinese on proliferation commitments, including its promise to halt nuclear exports to Iran, officials said.

Cohen's three-day visit to Beijing Jan. 17-19 is aimed at encouraging more open relations between the U.S. and Chinese militaries. They will sign a maritime agreement to prevent naval incidents at sea.

Cohen will then hold talks in Japan Jan. 20 before traveling the following day to Seoul where he will meet president-elect Kim Dae-jung and members of the outgoing government.

Worries that North Korea might take advantage of the crisis in the South to create disturbances have not materialized, suggesting that Pyongyang is ready for engagement with Seoul, analysts say.

But the upheaval in South Korea's economy comes at a delicate point in efforts to advance four-way peace talks involving North Korea, South Korea, China and the United States.