MALAYSIA PM OPENS ASEAN FOREIGN MIN

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Subject: MALAYSIA PM OPENS ASEAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN KUALA LUMPUR


	MALAYSIA PM OPENS ASEAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN KUALA LUMPUR


     Thursday 24 July, 1997 (2:49pm AEST)


          Malaysia's Prime Minister, Doctor Mahathir, has opened the
          annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur,
          highly critical of what he called foreign coercion of the
          organisation.

          Doctor Mahathir said the world should accept that
          membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
          promotes progress.

          He stressed that stability and prosperity, not outside help,
          would be the region's ultimate defense.

          In a thinly-veiled reference to American and European
          opposition to ASEAN's decision to admit military-governed
          Burma, Doctor Mahathir said that it was regrettable there
          were those who would not see the obvious.

          He said instead of encouraging ASEAN to accept all
          Southeast Asian countries as soon as possible, the grouping
          had been urged to pass judgment, deny membership and
          apply pressure on a potential candidate to force it to remain
          poor and unstable.

          He called on ASEAN to resist and reject such attempts at
          coercion.

	 (24 July 1997, ABC News)

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