Defiant Mahathir pits ASEAN against

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Subject: Defiant Mahathir pits ASEAN against US


			Defiant Mahathir pits ASEAN against US
			**************************************
                   (By IAN McPHEDRAN, Foreign Affairs Reporter, in Kuala
                   Lumpur) 

                   The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has
                   launched a scathing attack on the United States and 
		the West,
                   warning them not to meddle in the affairs of Asian 
		nations and
                   accusing them of deserting weak countries in their 
		time of need. 

                   In a vintage performance at the opening of the 30th annual
                   Association of South-East Asian Nations ministerial 
		meeting being
                   held at a hotel built around a mini Disneyland theme 
		park outside the
                   capital, the 72-year-old leader also labelled 
		international financiers as
                   rogues, brigands and anarchists who were under mining 
		ASEAN
                   economies. 

                   In a direct swipe at the US he said some countries 
		were pursuing a
                   new form of hegemony based on economic sanctions. 

                   'Weakened, the unfortunate countries will have to 
		submit as
                   completely as if they are colonies,' he said. 

                   United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 
		set the scene
                   for a major clash with Malaysia and other ASEAN 
		members at this
                   weekend's Regional Forum and dialogue sessions when 
		she repeated
                   calls for sanctions against ASEAN's newest member, Burma,
                   admitted on Wednesday along with Laos. 

                   Cambodia was denied membership following the bloody 
		coup by
                   Second Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this month. The 
		ARF brings
                   together the nine ASEAN countries and 12 dialogue partners
                   including the US, China and Australia. 

                   Before leaving the US for Kuala Lumpur, Dr Albright 
		said Burma
                   should face international sanctions and she told ASEAN 
		that by
                   admitting Burma they would have to accept greater 
		responsibility for
                   Burma's problems. She said she would use the 
		'leverage' of the
                   United States this weekend to pressure ASEAN on 
		Cambodia after
                   regional foreign ministers agreed to pursue Cambodia's 
		membership
                   as soon as possible. 

                   Dr Mahathir said the world should welcome the 
		accession to
                   ASEAN of any country that qualified because it was a 
		'steadying
                   influence'. 

                   'Instead of encouraging ASEAN to accept all South East 
		Asian
                   countries as soon as possible, ASEAN has been urged to 
		pass
                   judgement, deny membership and apply pressure on a 
		potential
                   candidate so as to force that country to remain poor 
		and therefore
                   unstable. We must resist and reject such attempts at 
		coercion. They
                   are not part of the ASEAN way,' he said. 

                   Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who arrives here 
		today, has
                   adopted a softer line on Burma and will have to juggle 
		a commitment
                   to international human rights standards and the 'ASEAN 
		way'
                   promoted by Dr Mahathir. 

                   Dr Mahathir reminded his ASEAN colleagues that 
		regional countries
                   had been told before that they needed foreign 
		protection against
                   predatory countries. He said ASEAN could not rely on 
		outside help
                   and that if the group experienced security problems 
		with a
                   non-member country it would seek a solution through 
		negotiation
                   and unity. 'The pledge to protect human rights 
		irrespective of borders
                   and sovereignty has proven empty time and time again. 
		We know we
                   will be left to face the problem and to pay the cost 
		with our lives and
                   our wealth.' 

                   In response to the recent pressure on a number of ASEAN
                   currencies, including the Malaysian Ringgit, Dr 
		Mahathir used the
                   crisis to caution against free trade and commerce. He 
		said anyone
                   with a 'few billion dollars' could destroy all the 
		progress that had
                   been made by regional economies. Dr Mahathir accused 
		the group
                   of eight industrialised nations of determining the 
		fate of every country.
                   'When they agree on anything, as for example the 
		revaluation of the
                   Yen, we have to pay the price. And when they quarrel 
		we will be
                   trampled under.' 

                   He said ASEAN countries alone would not be able to 
		provide a
                   buffer, but nine countries with half a billion people 
		may be able to do
                   something to protect themselves. 

		(Foreign Affairs, The Canberra Times, 25 July 1997)

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