Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday lashed out at Australia's participation in next week's inaugural East Asia Summit, saying Canberra will pressure Asian countries into accepting Washington's views on issues such as trade and globalization.
Mahathir, who had conceived of an East Asian caucus as a way to counter US influence in the region, appeared bitter that his vision has been corrupted with the entry of Australia and New Zealand, two culturally European nations that are close allies of Washington.
"Australia is basically European and it has made clear to the rest of the world that it is the deputy sheriff for America," Mahathir told reporters.
"Therefore Australia's views would represent not the East, but the views representing the stand of America," he said.
He predicted that the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 14 will not find a common voice on anything because of the two Pacific nations' presence, as well as Japan's pro-US policies.
"I am not very optimistic because East Asian countries tend to yield to strong pressures, which makes the whole grouping quite useless," he said.
The East Asia Summit originally was planned as a gathering of the 10 countries that form ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea. But it was expanded to include India, Australia and New Zealand after ASEAN decided against a narrow geographical definition of East Asia.
Mahathir, who stepped down in October 2003 after 22 years in power, said the new grouping no longer honors his vision of "a consultative group where people of East Asia can sit around the table and take a common stand on WTO and globalization."
"I have always opposed the idea of Australia and New Zealand being in the group simply because Australia and New Zealand are not really East nor are they Asian," Mahathir said.
"I am afraid that knowing Asians -- who are always very polite and do not like to appear to be recalcitrant -- the views of Australia are likely to dominate this East Asian-Australasian grouping," he said.
This comment showed that he has not forgotten the description by Australia's then-prime minister Paul Keating of Mahathir as recalcitrant in 1993. Keating's remark plunged Malaysia-Australia relations to an all-time low and led to Mahathir's visceral dislike for Australia.
Mahathir also warned that Japan might be US spokesman in the East Asia Summit.
"We cannot take Japan's stand as being East Asian. It is likely to reflect Japan's very strong relations with the United States," he said.
Mahathir said India's participation was fine because it is Asian.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not