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Singapore: China-India ties to anchor new Asia century
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-08-18 16:03
Good relations between China and India will form the foundation of a "new
architecture of cooperation" bringing together East, Southeast and South Asia,
Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said, AFP reported.
Yeo said an inaugural East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur in December that will
gather the leaders of 16 countries, including China and India, is important to
the emergence this new regional landscape.
Asia faces three main challenges that could shape the region's future, one of
them "the construction of a new architecture of cooperation in Asia itself,
bringing together East, Southeast and South Asia," he said.
"This process, which will take many years, is already underway. If we
succeed, the centre of the world economy will move to Asia in this century and a
new East-West trade dwarfing anything which had been seen previously will come
to be.
"Good relations between China and India will be the foundation of such a new
architecture... The convening of the first East Asia Summit at the end of this
year in Kuala Lumpur is therefore of great significance."
Yeo was speaking at an international conference in Singapore as part of
activities marking the 600th anniversary of legendary Chinese mariner Zheng He's
round-the-world voyages.
December's summit in the Malaysian capital will gather the leaders of the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China,
Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Yeo noted the recent improvements in Chinese-Indian ties, highlighted by
improving trade relations and an agreement between Beijing and New Delhi on
principles for settling their border dispute.
China became India's second largest trading partner last year.
"Provided we do not trip ourselves, the countries of Southeast Asia will be
swept along by the re-emergence of China and India on the global stage. This
Asian transformation involves more than half the world's population and will
define the 21st century," he said.
The two other challenges that could affect Asia are how Chinese-US ties are
managed, and achieving harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims, Yeo said.
On Sino-US ties, Yeo said it was unlikely that their rivalry will lead to
war, adding that the most likely scenario would be for them to cooperate and
compete at the same time.
Management of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in South Asia,
Southeast Asia and Western China will also be important for the region's peace
and economic development.
"Failure to do this will provide fertile ground for terrorist groups like
Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah to carry out their activities and recruit new
members," he warned.
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