Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-04-Speech-3-146"
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"en.20020904.5.3-146"2
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"Madam President, first of all, I should like to express my support and praise for Mr Maaten's report. It is an excellent document. I should also like to express my appreciation for the communication by Commissioner Patten. Over the past ten years, the attention given to Asia by the EU has not always been what it should have been. Partly thanks to Commissioner Patten, this attention has been rekindled. This, of course, has something to do with his great knowledge and experience in the area in question. At parliamentary level too, contacts have improved over the past few years, as witness the recent ASEP meeting in Manila. It is also vital that talks should not simply be held at ministerial and official level, but also at parliamentary level. This reinforces the debate on mutual contacts, and the contacts are thus guided and controlled at parliamentary level too. Reinforcing the democratic substance in Asia is certainly no hollow exercise.
I should like to make a few more additional comments, starting with Indonesia. I am pleased that Commissioner Patten has spoken so highly about Indonesia. I should like to say something about Indonesia, because I know the country well and I am also co-Chairman of the newly formed working group 'Friends of Indonesia'. Indonesia is in the throes of becoming a democratic system. The authoritarian Suharto regime has fortunately made way for a democracy under the leadership first of President Wahid and now of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. This process is far from easy, and this is why it is important for that country to receive our support. After China, Indonesia is the region's largest country. We should not forget that Indonesia, in terms of inhabitants, is the world's largest Islamic country. These two elements together mean that Indonesia is of great strategic importance in the region and of great strategic importance in present-day world politics in the light of the events of 11 September last year. Over the summer, the Indonesian Congress, which is a combination of national and regional parliaments, took important decisions which further reinforce democracy. In future, the President will be elected directly by the people and the military power will withdraw from the national parliament in which it still had a preferential position. At the same time, however, we also notice the emergence of an increasing number of fundamentalist Muslim groups which are opposed to freedom of religion in Indonesia. Christian communities too, are under attack on a regular basis. The situation in the Moluccas has often been discussed in this House. Indonesia is vulnerable in this transitional phase to democracy, and this is why the Indonesian government deserves extra support from the European Union. My question to Commissioner Patten is: how could this support be stepped up?
Secondly, I should like to make an observation about Burma, or Myanmar. Mr Maaten's report states that that country should also become a member of the ASEM group. I would strongly question that. Burma still has a military regime that came to power by deposing a President who had 80% of the votes behind him, by depriving a parliament of its powers, by imprisoning many MPs or having them killed and by adopting a disastrous policy on ethnic minorities, resulting in more than 100 000 refugees in Thailand, among other countries. I have visited these refugee camps. Neither should we forget that Burma tolerates slave labour and is Asia's largest drugs exporter. In this respect, it is in close competition of Bolivia. In my view, such a country does not belong in ASEAN and in the ASEM group. We should instead try to ensure that Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi is reinstated as President of the country in a democratic system.
I should like to finish off with a remark about Vietnam. It is interesting to hear that the next Ministerial Conference will be taking place there. Although I am positive about Vietnam, I hope that attention will also be focused on the high number of political prisoners in that country. Mr Pannella has tabled an amendment to this effect. In my experience, it is useful to ask questions about this – and I have done so on numerous occasions – and for the Commissioner to assure that the European ambassador in Vietnam give this matter his urgent attention. I have letters which show that Vietnamese prisoners have been released following pressure brought to bear by Parliament and the European Union. It therefore works. I hope that this aspect will be given due consideration in the debates in Hanoi.
One final word. The Commission's line on Taiwan receives my unqualified support. I hope that Taiwan will be accorded a place in the ASEM and I also hope we can appreciate that Taiwan is a more important democracy than the vast country of China, which, it is of course also to be hoped, will yet develop in that direction."@en1
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