UK renews push to join ASEAN Regional Forum

UK renews push to join ASEAN Regional Forum

CANBERRA (Reuter): Britain renewed its push to join Asia's
security club yesterday, arguing that its UN Security Council
membership, strategic presence in the region and long diplomatic
experience all backed its application.

"Although we shall be handing over sovereignty of Hong Kong on
the 30th June 1997, that will not be the end of our interest in
the area," Defense Secretary Michael Portillo said in a speech in
Canberra.

Britain and France applied in July to join the security club,
the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional
Forum, which groups about 21 Asia-Pacific countries, including
the UN Security Council permanent members Russia, the United
States and China.

The European Union is also a member.

"We think that we can have something to offer," Portillo later
told reporters in Canberra.

"We have a great deal of experience in conflict resolution, a
great deal of experience in peacekeeping. We are the co-owners of
Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, a very important base," said
the minister, who was in Australia for meetings with his
ministerial counterpart and with defense industry officials.

U.S. B-52 bombers struck Iraq last week from Diego Garcia, an
old island outpost of the British Empire that now accommodates a
U.S. military base.

Britain was also a member of the Security Council and had
valuable contacts, the defense secretary said.

"We are members of a plethora of organizations: the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, NATO, the
European Union, the Commonwealth," he said.

Britain also is a member of the Five Power Defense Arrangement
(FPDA), which includes Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and
Singapore.

"The U.K. is firmly and enthusiastically committed to the Five
Power Defense Arrangement," Portillo said.

The FPDA -- no longer aimed at containing Indonesia, as it was
originally -- is the main security agreement binding Britain into
Asian affairs.

Apart from garrisons in Hong Kong and Brunei, Britain no
longer maintains substantial military forces in the Asia-Pacific
region, contrasting with the squadrons of Royal Navy warships
that used to dominate the area before World War I.

But Britain plans to send an aircraft carrier, three other
ships, a submarine and aircraft to an FPDA exercise next year.

"This represents a sizable commitment and contains some of our
latest and most effective equipment," Portillo said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN security forum also includes Australia, Myanmar,
Cambodia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Laos,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United
States.