Our job to keep peace in East Asia - by Mahathir
WITH the prophets of doom predicting that the booming economies of East Asia will collide in the next century, plunging the region into conflict, Dr Mahathir Mohamad remains the most persistent preacher of the virtues of co-operation.
The Malaysian Prime Minister admits that his vision of an East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) did not enjoy the best of starts: ''Malaysia sort of blurted out the idea after being very disappointed with the failure of a GATT [General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade] meeting. Our negotiators came back and told us that Europe and America were not looking at our problems, and were concerned only with their own trade issues.
''We all got worked up in a cabinet meeting, and came up with the idea of grouping the countries of East Asia together. Some ministers announced this to the press before we had time to consult our brothers in the ASEAN countries. Since then I've been tosee President Suharto and apologised to him for being a little bit brash.
''We can explain the merits and demerits of the idea, but if you ask us to undo the mistake in announcing it too early, that is not possible.'' Last week he would have done his best to persuade Mr Miyazawa on his sweep from Indonesia and Malaysia through Thailand to Brunei that the EAEC needs Japan's involvement to be effective.
The Japanese premier's pronouncement of the grandly-named ''Miyazawa Doctrine'' in Bangkok on Saturday will have encouraged Dr Mahathir, in that it commits Tokyo to working closely with ASEAN, especially on the development of Indo-China, but it falls short of an endorsement of EAEC. While the United States continues to regard EAEC as a potential threat, Japan is unlikely to do more than offer encouragement from the sidelines.
Dr Mahathir is convinced that ASEAN and an EAEC offer the best hope of heading off regional conflicts: ''Neighbours tend to quarrel with one another, and instead of having a war, the countries of ASEAN decided that we should sit around the table and discuss our problems, and try to resolve them through negotiations.'' HE points to the rapid economic growth of the ASEAN countries as proof of the wisdom of that basic political decision, and insists it has no protectionist tendencies. ''We have managed to have economic growth as well as democracy. Now a lot of other countries are concentrating on economic development rather than on the promotion of ideologies. Even China has adopted the free enterprise system and concentrated on economic growth.
''I think China is no longer interested in foreign adventures, conquests, and spreading their ideology. As a result China has grown faster than anybody else, and I think Vietnam is well on the way to doing what China has done.'' The rise of the East, and the erosion of the West's traditional advantages, is a favourite theme. He sees the EAEC giving the region a louder voice at world gatherings. With the trade blocs in Europe and North America, he argues that it is even more important.