Malaysian leader proposes closer ties among East Asian countries

Malaysian leader proposes closer ties among East Asian countries
to give region a stronger voice in world affairs

Associated Press
and The Jakarta Post
Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's leader urged East Asian nations Monday to form a
regional grouping similar to the European Union to strengthen
their voice in world affairs and reduce their dependence on the
United States.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi suggested the leaders of
the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sign
a declaration with China, Japan and South Korea similar to the
one that created ASEAN more than 30 years ago.

"We are punching way below our weight," Abdullah told a
conference of academics and officials from East Asian countries.
At present, he said, East Asia is a "heavyweight,
compartmentalized and cribbed in the featherweight class."

"Our present and our future are incredibly dependent on
decisions made in Washington or New York or Geneva," he said. "We
must enhance our voice, our weight and our role in the world of
security, politics and in the realm of ideas, culture and values.

A pact formalizing an "East Asia community" would strengthen
the region's contribution to "the fast evolving global structure
of peace, security and civilization" that at present is minimal,
Abdullah said.

"I believe that we in the region have dallied long enough," he
said. "If we are truly fortunate, if we are truly persistent, it
will take at least two generations for East Asia to reach the
European benchmark."

Abdullah said regional groupings like the European Union and
ASEAN had in the past managed to turn enemies into friends and
been successful as "a conflict reduction, peacemaking and
friendship-building machine in the modern world."

Earlier this month, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon
also said in Seoul that there was a need to establish a regional
grouping in Northeast Asia like the European Union in Europe.

"We have high hopes that a union of peace and prosperity
modeled on the European Union can be realized in Northeast Asia
in the not-so-distant future in Europe, we see the future of East
Asia, Ban said in a key note address at a seminar on "Democracy
in Asia, Europe and the World: Toward a Universal Definition."

To boost economic cooperation, Abdullah suggested an East
Asian community could include a regional monetary fund that would
supplement the Washington-headquartered International Monetary
Fund, similar to how the Manila-based Asian Development Bank
supplements the World Bank.

East Asian countries could also build what he called an East
Asia diplomatic community to strengthen regional peace and
friendship, which he said must be "the first without equals"
among East Asia's priorities.

"Our desire for peace and friendship must be our main
compass," Abdullah said. "If we lose this compass, East Asia will
be in peril."

But he stressed that East Asians should ensure that relations
remain strong without "key" outside countries including the
United States, Saudi Arabia, India, Britain, France, Germany and
Australia. He did not elaborate.