European and Asian leaders opened summit talks in Hanoi yesterday to rekindle inter-regional ties despite divisions over how to persuade Myanmar's military dictatorship to relax its grip on power.
The fight against terrorism, instability in Iraq, tension on the Korean peninsula and weapons non-proliferation were among the issues to be discussed at the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Measures to improve disease control and boost trade and investment were also on the two-day agenda in the Vietnamese capital.
PHOTO: AP
On the summit margins, China was expected to renew its push to get the EU to lift an arms embargo imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Speaking on behalf of the EU, Luxemburg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker hinted at the discord over Myanmar's participation that almost scuppered this fifth ASEM summit.
"Decisions on the enlargement of ASEM have shown that we don't always share the same point of view on all subjects," he said at the opening ceremony. "I hope and I am convinced that ASEM will emerge from this stronger and more mature."
The country formerly known as Burma was one of three members of the ASEAN that joined ASEM on Thursday, alongside Cambodia and Laos and the 10 new EU states. But its admission into the grouping was tempered by the EU's announcement that it would slap tougher sanctions on the junta for failing to meet several demands including the release of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Foreign ministers from the 25-member bloc are expected Monday to extend a visa blacklist of junta officials, ban EU companies from financing state-owned firms and oppose lending by international institutions such as the World Bank.
Britain, the country's former colonial power, repeated its call for the release of Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy.
"This would send a strong signal that Myanmar is serious about building a democratic nation," Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told a summit dinner late Thursday.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Myanmar now had obligations as a member of ASEM.
"We should continue the dialogue about human rights in our countries and we should respect worldwide standards. On this issue we expect further progress from Burma as a new ASEM member," he told the meeting yesterday.
However, both sides are keen not to allow Myanmar to completely overshadow ASEM, whose members collectively represent about 3 billion people and over 40 percent of world trade. French President Jacques Chirac has called in Hanoi for Asia and Europe to position themselves as an alternative pole to US domination of world affairs.
Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong said in opening the summit that the forum must become an "important force in securing peace, security and sustainable development in the world."
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
RSS