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| Down Under |
| Australia, New Zealand win partial welcome by ASEAN after Mahathir's departure |
| 2004-11-23 |
| Many in Southeast Asia say Australia is too Western to join the region's core club of nations. But Canberra has been given a guest pass for the region's annual conference this week, and the promise of free trade talks soon. In a key step toward improving often-icy relations, the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations invited Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and his counterpart from neighboring New Zealand, Helen Clark, to their summit. The ASEAN and Oceania countries are expected to sign agreements to start free trade talks next year. Senior officials start meeting Thursday to prepare for the two-day summit opening Monday. It will be the first summit between Southeast Asian and Oceania leaders since 1977 — a reflection of deep suspicion that Malaysia and other ASEAN heavyweights have felt toward Australia. Canberra's ties with Kuala Lumpur improved since the retirement last year of Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister who made no secret of his dislike for Australian leaders. Mahathir would bluntly explain why he wanted to keep Australia out of ASEAN: The Australians don't look Asian, are culturally European and geographically too distant. "They have a leader who is totally insensitive and thinks he is the white-man sheriff in some black country," Mahathir said of Howard in late 2002. Analysts say distrust of Australia and New Zealand runs deeper than skin color. "They don't know themselves whether they belong to the West or the East. That's one issue they must settle themselves," said Ramon Navaratnam of the independent Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur. Indonesia was angry with Australia for leading a multinational force into East Timor in 1999 to end violence by the Indonesian military and its supporters after the territory voted for independence. But it in recent years, Australians have teamed with Indonesians to fight a common enemy: terrorists. |
| Posted by:tipper |