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EU, Asian leaders meet for talks

Asian leaders, increasingly confident of their region's economic and political clout, were due yesterday to begin talking on issues ranging from trade to security with their European counterparts at a Helsinki summit.

The 25-nation EU, both curious and cautious about Asia's growing role in world affairs, was hosting leaders from China, South Korea, Japan and the 10 ASEAN nations for two days of talks in the capital of Finland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

As leaders arrived on Saturday on the eve of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), about 200 Finnish anarchists clashed with riot police in downtown Helsinki to protest against the presence of leaders from China and Myanmar.

Rights groups have criticized the decision by the EU to invite Myanmar's foreign minister despite a EU visa ban imposed because of the country's poor human rights record.

Critics have also warned that Europe will avoid strong criticism of China's human rights abuses for fear of upsetting the growing economic giant that last year received 52 billion euros (US$66 billion) worth of imports from the EU.

ASEM is the only forum exclusively dedicated to dialogue between Asia and Europe. But it is widely seen as being long on talk and short on substance and is still trying to prove its relevance despite its 10 years of existence.

Some analysts say that to be more relevant the group should not only focus on common interests, but should also take on difficult issues where the groups do not necessarily see eye-to-eye.

"They should try to tackle more core and controversial issues like outsourcing and the relocation of industries to Asia, because this is a growing concern in the world, in the US and increasingly in Europe," said Willem van der Geest, the director of the Brussels-based European Institute for Asian Studies.

While trade discussions at the summit were officially to focus on jump-starting stalled WTO negotiations, improving bilateral trade ties between the EU and ASEAN and between Europe and South Korea were also expected to be hot topics here, officials said.

Trade issues aside, the focus was also expected to be on security issues ranging from North Korea's missiles and Iran's atomic plans to ensuring a steady supply of energy to fuel the two regions' economies.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was expected to use the ASEM summit as an opportunity to sell his idea of multilateral security system for northeast Asia -- possibly along the lines of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

He was also expected to lay out Seoul's stance on North Korea's nuclear policy and recent missile tests, which are likely to figure prominently during security discussions.

Equally concerned about North Korea's missile program, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has lobbied the host, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, to write concerns over North Korea's missile development into his chairman's statement at the conclusion of the summit.

North Korea in July test-fired six short and medium-range missiles and one long-range missile-2. All fell harmlessly into the sea.

In an indication of the region's growing confidence as global player, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) warned Europe would "pay a heavy price" if it did not take Asia seriously.

"If Europe is left out of Asia at a time when the region is growing and linking up with partners all over the world, it will pay a heavy price, not just in economic growth and vitality, but also in its international influence," he said in a speech in London ahead of the summit.

Leaders were to fete the 10-year anniversary of ASEM by inviting new members into the club for future meetings.
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