Main focus of Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Europe and Asia

The heads of state and of government of the European 25 and their thirteen Asian partners (Southern Asian countries as well as China, Japan and South Korea) united in the Finnish capital Helsinki on the 9th, 10th and 11th of September for the sixth Asia-Europe meeting (ASEM). Does Europe really understand the significance of having strong ties with Asia?

Le Temps - Switzerland

"After ten years' existence, the Euro-Asian dialogue has yet to find its cruising speed", remarks Richard Werly in his editorial. "Who realises that every two years the ASEM summit unites the 38 countries representing 43% of world commerce and that tomorrow, with India, it will bare even more weight? ... This Euro-Asian forum is at the heart of the debate on energy security ... However, behind the structures, governments are having difficulty recognising their interests. What Asian country can be convinced of a multilateral dialogue with EU while, on ground level, each of the member states is fighting over contracts and rushing forward to sign bilateral free-trade agreements? ... Despite the promising press reports published this Monday (September 11th) concluding the Helsinki summit, the ASEM is also stalling because Europe does not take account in its dialogue of the mutations that have arisen in Asia." (12/09/2006)

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Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Referring to the EU-Asia summit, Alexander Hagelüken describes how Europe is gradually discovering Asia. "Regardless of whether the subject under discussion was protecting the environment, exports or human rights, the summit in Finland showed how many existential issues Europe and Asia already have in common. The EU states can therefore no longer afford to take the discovery of Asia at the leisurely pace they have done up to now. However, particularly regarding Europe's relations with China, it is now becoming clear how complicated this process will be. The desire for quick business could induce Europeans to compromise values such as democracy and freedom of opinion… How far should Europe go in its efforts to do business with Asia, and in particular with China? The Chinese government once again demanded at the summit in Helsinki that the weapons embargo be lifted, and that its companies be given more freedom regarding exports, without itself offering to make any concessions. As far as human rights are concerned Peking is pretending to be deaf… It's obviously trying to test Europes' limits. But it's the EU's soul that is at stake here. The principles of a one-party dictatorship are not desirable imports." (12/09/2006)

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Turun Sanomat - Finland

The Finnish newspaper welcomes the fact that Europe and Asia have come together to conduct negotiations under the auspices of the ASEM summit, and hopes the summit will mark a breakthrough in environmental and energy issues. "Hopefully this will also be the case for China, whose rapid economic growth also entails increased energy requirements. Coal supplies the country with quick and cheap energy but causes a great deal of pollution over large areas. Therefore it is imperative that China start to focus on renewable energies – an area that is also important for Finland and other EU states, and which should be used more intensively." (12/09/2006)

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