Kevin Rudd pushes for new Asia-Pacific community

Ah Chia SG

By Kate Hannon

May 29, 2009

He said he planned to invite leaders of nations in Asia, Oceania and the eastern Pacific to Australia "to further explore the idea of an Asia-pacific community" by 2020.

While he gave no date or location for the conference, he said it would be held after the East Asia Summit due in the Philippines in September and APEC which meets in Singapore in November.

Mr Rudd has argued that bodies such as the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC), the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit each have their singular focus.

He said Australia believed a new community could help shape the region which is fast changing with the rapid growth of China and India.

"I do not believe we can afford to sit idly by while the region simply evolves - without any sense of strategic purpose," he said.

"In fact, I believe that is potentially dangerous.

"We do not bring to the table a misty-eyed idealism about some pan-regional utopia."

But Mr Rudd said Mr Woolcott's discussions with regional leaders found little agreement on how to proceed.

Although they did agree that the current structures did not provide a relevant forum to discuss security, political and economic issues.

"Thirdly, it was clear that no one wants more meetings. There is no appetite for additional institutions," Mr Rudd said.

"It is difficult enough for leaders to make it to the range of meetings we already have."

Mr Rudd said he had an open mind on "where we end up".

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25559051-29277,00.html

Ah Chia SG

Mr Rudd first raised the idea of a new grouping of nations aimed at bringing together the United States, China, Japan, India, Indonesia and Australia, among others

Oh no, USA wants to butt into asian affairs again.

Ah Chia SG

Kevin Rudd, there are already too many of such organisations already.

Endless summits and meetings already.

And I also oppose the idea of USA butting into asian affairs.

Thank you Kevin Rudd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

ASEAN Regional Forum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN#Regional_Forum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apec

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands_Forum

Ah Chia SG

The United States never misses any opportunity to take a hand in international organizations involving U.S. interests. Another way to put it is that the United States consistently sees the actions of all international organizations as being closely related to U.S. interests.

No matter whether the nature of the international organization is European, American, Asian, for some other region, or worldwide, the United States always strives to get involved in it, and manipulate it. The 1996 U.S. Department of Defense Report put it straightforwardly, "To protect and achieve U.S. interests, the U.S. Government must have the capability to influence the policies and actions of other countries.

This requires the United States to maintain its overseas involvement, especially in those areas in which the most important interests of the United States are endangered."

For example, regarding the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization, the initial idea of its conceptualizer, Australian Prime Minister Hawke, was that it would only include Asian countries, Australia, and New Zealand. However, this idea immediately encountered strong opposition from President Bush, and it was then expanded to include the United States and Canada.

At the same time, so as to check the momentum of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation, the United States spared no effort in instigating some Asian countries to sign independent agreements with the North American Free Trade Area.

Not only did the United States make its way in, it also dragged others out...

http://www.terrorism.com/documents/TRC-Analysis/unrestricted.pdf

4sg SG

Europe integrated because it is one landlocked continental mass and it is far more productive to synergize rather than to antagonize.

But for the regional countries of India, China, Japan, Indonesia, what this integration really bring to them? What is the real benefit to each? Nothing really substantial, the way I see it.

Only Australia benefits because it is one end of the world and it needs lots of attention.

Stevenson101 SG

Come to think of it, as a Western country strategically it's quite isolated from the Western world.

Nasi lemak in sg is best SG

F$ck the racist white Rudd....white supremacist

Nasi lemak in sg is best SG

Rudd cannot pay for the social security of racist white aussies, so he wants cash from asian countries..

Ah Chia SG

Australia, USA and others, these western countries trying to influence and manipulate asian affairs with this asian pacific scheme.

I am against this filthy dirty plan.

Can't mind their fucking business, forever want to come and interfere.

ASEAN, East Asia summit, they don't have much say and influence, want to create asia-pacific fucking community to have more say and influence.

Fuck you kevin rudd.

Nasi lemak in sg is best SG

ya, fark him basatad, taking money from students in india and china to pay for his social security lazy racist aussie who f$ck their mother and sister at home and exchange wife to sex with

fark u kevin rudd.......

Nasi lemak in sg is best SG

Australia, USA and others, these western countries trying to influence and manipulate asian affairs with this asian pacific scheme.

I am against this filthy dirty plan.

Can't mind their fucking business, forever want to come and interfere.

ASEAN, East Asia summit, they don't have much say and influence, want to create asia-pacific fucking community to have more say and influence.

Fuck you kevin rudd.

China will not join them. The west sees China as a threat because China is not easily cheated.

Ah Chia SG

KEVIN Rudd's proposal for an Australian-led Asia-Pacific community similar to the European Union has been slapped down by the top envoy chosen by Barack Obama to represent US interests in the region.

Kurt Campbell yesterday raised serious difficulties with the Prime Minister's plan, declaring that Asians hated to be compared with Europe.

Speaking at US Senate confirmation hearing before his expected swearing-in as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Dr Campbell said multilateral diplomacy in Asia was still "very shallow", and the success of any Asia-Pacific union would require deeper roots.

He made it clear that the US, rather than Australia, would see its role as harnessing and directing any large new institution that involved China and Japan.

In a surprise move, Mr Rudd announced 12 months ago that he wanted Australia to spearhead the creation of a regional institution spanning the Asia-Pacific region. Appointing veteran Australian diplomat Richard Woolcott to lobby regional leaders, Mr Rudd said his proposed union would include the US, China, Japan, India, Indonesia and other countries in the region. While the EU should not provide "an identikit model", the Prime Minister said he believed the Asia-Pacific region could learn much from the European grouping.

Only a fortnight ago, Mr Rudd demonstrated that his enthusiasm for setting up an Asia-Pacific union by 2020 remained undiminished, telling the annual Shangri La conference in Singapore that without a go-ahead for his proposal, he was concerned about "the possibility of strategic drift within our region".

Dr Campbell, a highly regarded policy expert who knows Australia well and is close to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told the US Senate committee on foreign relations yesterday that Asia was "full of these meetings, both multilateral and mini-lateral", saying: "Everyone's got these."

He said he had met representatives of the Prime Minister when they were in Washington, and he was concerned about what growing numbers of such groups were asked to do.

"I know Asians hate to be compared with Europe, and it's a very different set of circumstances, and I appreciate that, but the diplomacy in Asia of a multilateral sort is still very shallow - and if it's to be successful it has to have deeper roots," Dr Campbell said...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/

Some rivalry between USA and Australia here.

Asia pacific union is a rubbish idea in my opinion, I hope Kevin Rudd can stop promoting this rubbish.

Why asia suddenly go linked with pacific?

EU itself is a flawed organisation; want us to create this flawed organisation?

Better go fuck off.

You USA and Australia are both not part of asia, don't come and promote what EU style bullshit union here.

You don't think I stupid or naive not to see through your fucking agenda.

Impetus given to concept of Asia-Pacific integration

"Asia-Pacific community" has once again become a heated topic since the Eighth Annual Asian Security Summit was held from May 29 to 31 in Singapore under the auspices of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Asia-Pacific community is depicted with an air of idealism, and members on the Asia-Pacific rim are alive with a long-term desire to capture large shares on global economy.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd first proposed an Asia Pacific community concept in June 2008, when he set forth a grand blueprint to foster a regional cooperation body by 2020 at the Asia society's Sydney-based AustralAsia Center.

According to his blueprint, the trans-Pacific body to be set up by 2020 will include the United States, China, Japan and India. It will take the Asia-Pacific Economic Organization (APEC), or a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ASEAN plus Three countries (China, Japan and South Korea), the East Asia Summit and other existing regional frameworks as the basis. And it will expand the capacity to cope with transnational non-traditional security threats, open trade mechanisms and provide long-term fuel energy resources and food security guarantees.

The European Union (EU) is often viewed as the epitome of regional integration in the political, economical, social and other spheres, and it is considered as a model to be followed by other regional groupings, Prime Minister Rudd said. But skeptics were once suspicious of its viability and so "it was necessary to take the first step," he acknowledged.

"Asia-Pacific Community" initiative is based on the definition and recognition of challenges facing the region. Against the backdrop of growing economic globalization, the traditional and non-traditional security issues are very complicated and mutually interwoven. Climate change, fuel energy and food security have been turned into major topics in international relations, and the spread of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the rampant piracy also called for multi-faceted coordinated responses.

Nevertheless, the U.S.'initiative has been referred to as the key to the defense of security in the Asia-Pacific region. It is precisely for this reason that Singapore, Thailand and a few other Asian nations were not so enthusiastic with the Asia-Pacific community concept when it was first announced as they all had the fear of marginalization in their future regional framework. Perhaps also against this background, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tried purposely to dim the hues of big powers during his recent trip to Singapore. In delineating an Asian regional community, Rudd underscored the leading, facilitative role of the ASEAN and other related coordinating mechanisms in the course of the community building.

In view of an in-depth perspective, there is obviously a wide spread of collisions between various concepts in international affairs. As a matter of fact, East Asian nations are interdependent in the fields of economy and trade, and they carry out practical cooperation in non-traditional security spheres. Stern challenges, however, remain in their traditional security realm.

Nevertheless, the Asia-Pacific transformation process is bound to be very complex and difficult. And what crucial at the moment is to seize the opportunity for regional cooperation and integration and jointly eliminate real obstacles on the way ahead.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001

parn SG

So many gays around in sgforums.....

reyes SG

endless such organisation liao.

KR, you dont need to organise such a organisation to let aussie know you are working.