SINGAPORE: ASEAN signs charter
Updated
Leaders of the South East Asian group of countries have signed a landmark treaty committing them to promote human rights and democracy. But the signing ceremony took place amid continued condmenation of Burma's rights record. Australia will use the summit to push for direct talks with Burma on political reform.
Presenter: Graeme Dobell
Speakers: Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer
DOBELL: Gaining a seat at the first East Asia Summit was a significant diplomatic achievement for Australia, making it one of the 16 countries at the first summit in 2005. If Australia was not a few days away from its election, the Prime Minister, John Howard would definitely be in Singapore. Instead, it's the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, who says Australia's participation as a founding member of the summit is evidence of the depths of Australia's regional ties. Another measure of relevance, Mr Downer says, is that nearly 60 per cent of Australia's exports of goods and services go to the other 15 countries at the summit - the ten ASEAN states, China, Japan and South Korea, India and New Zealand. The silent purpose of the summit is to engage and shape China's growing role in Asia. But at this, the third summit, Australia is seeking to broaden the formal agenda to start to create an Asian consensus on dealing with climate change.
DOWNER: Australia getting into the East Asia Summit has been a truly great achievement by Australia and we are hoping through our participation, through the East Asia Summit tonight and tomorrow, to be able to get agreement to a statement by all of those 16 countries participating on climate change. We'll see but we are pushing for a climate change declaration from Singapore. If we can get, at the meeting in Singapore, if we can get all of those 16 countries, which includes India and China, if we can get those countries signed up to taking further action on stabilising and eventually reducing emissions, if we can get their agreement to energy intensity improvements, that is using energy more efficiently, if we can get their agreement to greater efforts in the area of reafforestation, that will be a great achievement. That will be enormously important. So I accept it is not very convenient for me to have to go; the Prime Minister clearly would normally go, but he can't go - and it's not in Australia's national interest that we're unrepresented at this crucially important meeting.
DOBELL: Mr Downer says beyond the presence of Burma, the summit brings together the countries of Asia which can have a real impact on Burma's military regime - the rest of ASEAN along with China and India. The Foreign Minister says these are the key countries to getting any reform in Burma.
DOWNER: I don't have a problem with what the ASEAN leaders have done, I think they've behaved pretty well in relation to Burma and I know that Singapore is the chair of ASEAN, it's been striving to encourage the Burmese military to reform. And they're not alone. Other ASEAN leaders have been doing that and they've been doing it for a long period of time. So let's remember all of that. The country that has the most influence over Burma is not one of the ASEAN countries or even all of the ASEAN countries, it's China, and to a much lesser extent India. But I think China is the country and I think we need to maintain our dialogue with China over Burma and importantly support the UN mission of Mr Gambari. I don't think we should be cutting across his mission, I don't think we should be undermining it, I don't think we should be discrediting it. I think we should be reinforcing and supporting it as best we can.
DOBELL: As well as the talks at the summit, Mr Downer says he'll be seeking a separate bilateral meeting with Burma on the sidelines in Singapore. The Foreign Minister says the aim is to press Burma's military to make real reforms, not just cosmetic changes.
DOWNER: Burmese leaders have had a long, long time to move towards the liberalisation of their country, and what depresses me is that they've done virtually nothing. Now it's said that there have been some minor but positive responses to the Gambari mission. For example there are the early stirrings of a dialogue between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. We'd want to see a proper dialogue, we want to see a constant flow of meetings and negotiations to liberalise the country and to put it onto the path to democracy. There has been, it's claimed by the Burmese junta, the release of some political prisoners. To be honest with you, I don't think many political prisoners have been released, I think there still remains a large number of political prisoners in Burma.
