Australia’s Howard Wants to Have the Cake and Eat It Too

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister is flying into a diplomatic row today (Monday) when he attends an Asian leaders summit in Laos. He is the first Australian Prime Minister to be invited to sit as an observer at the Association of South East Asian Nations' annual talkfest.

While the meeting will achieve very little, going on its past record, Howard has managed to ruffle diplomatic feathers by simply adhering to long-standing Australian policy. He is refusing to sign a non-aggression pact with Asean. This should not be surprising as it has been Australia's policy for several years.

However there are two factors that bring the spotlight onto this stance now. The first is Howard's presence at the summit. In the past Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad blocked efforts by Australia to attend the summit. The second factor is Howard's surprise announcement earlier this year of a policy of pre-emptive strikes on neighbouring nations to prevent an imminent terrorist attack. That policy really did ruffle a lot of feathers in the region when it was unveiled. Howard confirmed the policy during the recent national election where he recorded a stunning win over the Labor Party. As Howard was preparing to depart for the summit, the host nation, Laos, said it wanted Australia to sign the treaty respecting the territorial integrity of member states. It said countries as far away as Pakistan and Japan have acceded to the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). Russia and South Korea are also due to sign on at the two day summit. "We want to have Australia and New Zealand to come on board on the TAC," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

"Because we have now China, India, South Korea and Russia acceding to the pact, it becomes even more pronounced that Australia and New Zealand are not yet on board on this issue. We are looking to encourage them at this summit to precisely consider this." Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer does not believe the treaty is a real problem for Asean countries. "Not one of the Asean Foreign Ministers even mentioned that issue to me in the meetings I had with them at Apec," Downer said.

Historically Australia has never signed these type of treaties and there is an important reason why it will not depart from that tradition in this case. The treaty calls on signatories to renounce the use of force, to resolve differences peacefully and not to interfere in each other's internal affairs. The last point is significant as it is designed to preserve the South East Asian tradition of not criticising the political problems or human rights abuses of neighbours. This attitude was graphically demonstrated when Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra threatened to walk out if his counterparts raised concerns about a Muslim insurgency in his country's south. Thaksin said a country's internal affairs must be kept off the table. The violence near Thailand's border with Malaysia has left more than 540 people dead this year, and neighbouring countries are concerned it could threaten the entire region's stability. This underscores Australia's attitude; it wants to remain free to criticise the human rights abuses in Myanmar.

Asean Foreign Ministers who met over the weekend on the eve of the summit re-affirmed that the treaty was important for creating a new security community in Asia. However the problem with Asean is that it had become almost irrelevant since the end of the Cold War. Worse, the region has become a hotbed of terrorism and civil wars. Added to that is the obscene disparity between the middle class and the millions of poor people in South East Asia. In the reclusive communist nation of Laos, the poorest country in Asia, the capital Vientiane is under virtual curfew due to the fear of terrorist strikes during the summit. The residents of the capital have been told to stay home and taxis and tuk-tuk motor tricycles have been banished from the streets. This sets the scene for Howard's arrival and his wish to win a regular place at the regional place for talks on trade and security.

The Asian leaders are slowly overcoming differences and trying to create a regional bloc to counter the economic rise of China. A free trade pact between Asean, Australia and New Zealand would lock Canberra into a market of 500 million people which last year bought more than $17 billion worth of Australian goods and services. However, the row over Howard's refusal to sign the non-aggression pact shows the huge divide that still exists between Australia and its neighbours.