Confusing view on Asia

June 5, 2008, 3:05pm,  114 views

Kevin Rudd has floated the idea of a new Asian-Pacific institution to builder stronger bilateral ties.

“I believe it is time that we started to think about where we want to be with our regional architecture in 2020,” Mr Rudd said.

“We believe that we need to anticipate the historic changes in our region and seek to shape them, rather than simply reacting to them.”

According to AAP: Mr Rudd believes the institution must engage in broad dialogue, cooperation and action on economic and political matters, as well as future challenges related to security.

“The purpose is to encourage the development of a genuine and comprehensive sense of community whose habitual operating principle is cooperation,” Mr Rudd said.

“The danger in not acting is that we run the risk of succumbing to the perception that future conflict within our region may somehow be inevitable.”

Comment: The remarks come on the eve of his first visit as Prime Minister to Japan and Indonesia.

Talk on the radio today was that Rudd envisages a strong community of nations, similar to the European Community.

The Opposition is right to describe this as presumptuous. Rudd has not revealed details of his vision. He has not consulted with the other countries involved or the Australian people.

He has become the master of the headline, the wizard of the grab.

By making a broad speech like that he guarantees media coverage, but then it is all forgotten.

There is no way the Australian people will cede sovereignty over anything to an Asia-Pacific institution and there’s little likelihood other countries in the region want that relationship anyway.

Some of them are autocratic, some of them are Communist. The idea of closer links beyond trade and cultural exchanges is actually rather frightening.