War in SE Asia not possible: Malaysian deputy premier

War in SE Asia not possible: Malaysian deputy premier

HONG KONG (Agencies): China will not go to war -- except over
Taiwan -- and a regional conflict in Southeast Asia is "not
possible", a prominent regional politician said Monday.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told
the Asia's Future Summit here that the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) was now so strong that a regional war would
never happen.

"(Armed conflict) is not possible," he said. "I don't think it
will ever happen."

But the conference was warned that globalization would lead to
a wave of Islamic extremism throughout Asia.

Former Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said poverty and
disenchantment in areas which failed to catch on to important new
technology would lead to a dramatic upsurge in fanaticism.

"There will be a wide spread of this extremism," Surin said.
"It will certainly spread and it will affect China."

Surin said Asia would struggle to come to terms with the new
world order when access to the latest technology will dictate a
country's prosperity.

"We will see issues of adjustment to globalization that will
have implications and spill over across the Asia region. It is a
problem of disparity. We will have a lot of issues to work on in
the next few years, and it will affect the business environment."

Surin was responding to Abdullah's keynote speech, in which he
predicted China's emergence as the world's largest economy would
be the biggest issue facing Asia in the next 25 years.

"Within the next decade or so an enormous shift is set to
occur in the Asia Pacific region," Abdullah told the conference.

"China will regain its position as the world's largest
economy ... India will become the third or fourth largest
economy."

But Abdullah said despite its economic strength China was
unlikely to overhaul the United States, whose technological,
military and cultural supremacy would keep it at the top for the
foreseeable future.

"America will remain number one well into the 21st century,"
he said.

Abdullah also predicted the re-unification of the Korea
peninsula and said East Timor would be the last territory to gain
independence from Indonesia.

Meanwhile in Singapore, Asian experts view the economic
slowdown as the most significant threat to regional security, far
greater than political differences, social instability or
terrorism, a poll showed on Monday.

The Straits Times AsiaPoll queried government officials,
security experts, and political and economic analysts in China,
Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, the
Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The economic downturn emerged as the most significant issue
with 28 percent of the respondents identifying it as the
principle threat.

It has "a direct effect on the deterioration of peace and
internal stability", Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo
Golez was quoted as saying.

Fourteen percent were concerned about the growing polarization
of relations in the region as far as China was concerned.

Social instability, military build-up, religious extremism and
terrorism followed, weighing almost equally on the minds of
respondents.

Singaporeans, who rated their national security the highest,
indicated they felt the least threatened in the region. They were
followed by those living in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Thailand,
Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.

Respondents in Taiwan felt the most threatened, the findings
showed.

In sub-regional categories, people said they would feel most
insecure in South Asia.