UK's Cook to talk human rights, business in Asia
UK's Cook to talk human rights, business in Asia
LONDON (Reuter): British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook starts a
visit tomorrow to four Southeast Asian countries to deepen
business and political ties while stressing the importance
Britain attaches to human rights.
Cook's whistlestop tour -- his first to the region -- will
take him to Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Officials said Cook, determined to map out a more ethical
foreign policy, would make it clear that Britain expected its
partners to respect human rights and was ready to help where it
could.
"This is the central question he'll be trying to develop
during the visit to the four nations. There are problems in all
of them of some sort or another," an official said.
Whatever his criticisms, Cook will also make clear that
Britain wants to deepen its ties to an economically vibrant
region and also expand its influence there.
"One objective is to show the priority the government wants to
give this region," the official said.
He will need to tread carefully for fear of offending
sensibilities in a quartet of nations which took 4.3 billion
pounds ($6.9 billion) of British exports last year and where
Britain is the single largest European investor.
"If he has a robust message to deliver, he'll do so
constructively. On human rights, it is not just a case of saying
'Do better'," the official said.
"He will come up with practical ways of how Britain can help
things go better," he said, but gave no concrete details.
Cook will in particular tell Indonesia that more has to be
done to achieve peace in East Timor.
"The questions of human rights in Indonesia and East Timor are
high on his agenda -- he certainly won't be shying away from
them," the official said.
Upon taking office Cook vowed to ban arms sales to countries
with poor human rights records, but campaigners accused him of
backtracking when he refused to withdraw more than 21,000
existing export licenses to Indonesia.
These included one for the sale of 16 British Aerospace Hawk
jets and another for armored vehicles.
Activists say both kinds of equipment have been used for
internal repression.
Cook also plans to discuss the recent violence in Cambodia,
how Southeast Asia can deal with the gradual emergence of China
as a regional superpower as well as the situation in Myanmar,
where the military government has clamped down on pro-democracy
activists.