ABSTRACT
Singapore’s proposed agenda for Asia-Europe Meeting 1 (ASEM 1) included political issues, but its understanding of the areas of common interest was restricted to deepening of mutual understanding of the Asian and European security situations and United Nations (UN) restructuring and democratization (Bersick 1998: 50-61). In the latter case, some form of Asian-European joint action would presumably have followed a dialogue. Cultural issues were not mentioned at all. The European Union (EU), in keeping with a June 1991 declaration that “respecting, promoting and safeguarding human rights” was to be a cornerstone of its relations with non-European states, insisted on a formulation of areas of common interest that encompassed human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Failure to put these issues on the agenda would have provoked protests in Europe (Nuttall 2000: 155). As a compromise, the phrase “for greater growth” was added to the “comprehensive partnership,” upon the Asians’ insistence, thus emphasizing the priority of economic issues over political issues (Bersick 2004c: 100).
