Transcription
In Europe, at every meeting, they vote. In ASEAN, we have about a thousand meetings a year. We never vote. We never vote. We can vote, but we never vote.
And when Trump changed the US position, European leaders were left on the limb. The American agenda in Africa now is to keep China out. But it's not possible.
In this video, George Yo, the former foreign minister of Singapore, explains the differences between China, the European Union, and ASEAN. He shares why ASEAN is getting closer to China, mainly because of their long history together. At the same time, he also points out that the European Union is slowly losing its power and influence in the world.
"The EU is an inspiration to ASEAN. When I was trade minister, I had on my table the Treaty of Rome, which in 80 pages, uh, described the construction of the European common market. It was a simple document, easy to understand, almost inspiring, and at that time, for us in ASEAN, pointed the way forward for the next few steps. But Europe became more and more complicated. Until today, the documents defining the EU, the acquis, will cover a whole room, and you need many PhDs to understand Europe today in detail. The danger when you have such a complicated construction is that Europeans don't understand the institutions. Even as a minister, it was not easy for me to understand European institutions. And unless ordinary people have an affection for institutions, they will become alienated from it. So there is today all over Europe a feeling that Brussels is oppressive. And the British monarchy, for all its foibles, we understand what it is. It's obvious. It's almost touchable, and people like it. The British love their monarchy. I mean, they know their failings and so on, but it's okay. It's still their monarchy. But Brussels, Brussels is amorphous, is distant, is mysterious, and not fully accountable. We don't want to be like that in ASEAN. So we decided from very early, the Treaty of Rome is good, but beyond that, we have to find our own way to the future.
For example, in Europe, at every meeting, they vote, and there's brinkmanship up to the early hours of the morning on every issue. In ASEAN, we have about a thousand meetings a year. We never vote. We never vote. We can vote, but we never vote. Why don't we vote? Because face matters in Southeast Asia. If I win this time around and you lose, next time around, you get back at me, and then in the end, we are maneuvering against one another. What do we do? Say, on an issue, one country is adamantly against. We show respect. So we'll talk about it. We say, let officials study it further. Uh, we form an eminent persons group. Uh, we refer it to another committee, and then we go round and round, gradually like water eroding the hard corners, and after a while, social pressure accumulates, and people say, okay, let's compromise, then we move on. So the river meanders, but it still goes downhill. That's ASEAN. So year by year, it seems frustratingly inefficient, but it's okay. We make progress. Most importantly, we have kept the peace in the region.
And we know how to deal with China. Likes face. So when there's a visit by Xi Jinping, oh, everybody rolls out the red carpet. You know, in fact, most recent visit in Vietnam, the president went to the airport. In Cambodia, Hun Sen himself was at the airport. In Phnom Penh, the king himself was at the airport. And you remember in 1978, when Deng Xiaoping came to the airport because there's an emperor visiting. And, you know, there's a historical memory of China, you know, when the sultans and kings of Southeast Asia went to Nanjing to pay tribute. It doesn't mean that they accept a position of subordination. No, there's a famous story in Sejarah Melayu, the Malay Annals, about Malacca's good links with Ming China during her voyages. This Sejarah Melayu, which many of you might be familiar with, there's a famous episode there which describes how why Malaya had good relations with Ming China is because the Chinese emperor was very sick, and the imperial physicians could not cure the emperor. So one of the emperor's advisers told him, you go to Malaya, send an envoy there, beg for the used bath water, foot bath water of the Sultan, bring it back to Nanjing, bathe in it, and you'll be cured. And the Ming emperor sent the envoy, and the Sultan was kind enough to give him that used foot bath, and the emperor bathed in it, and he was cured. And since then, relations between China and Malacca were very good. Now, this is the mentality in Southeast Asia. Yeah, the emperor is coming, will be very nice, but we calculate in our own self-interest. And I always remind Chinese officials that don't be overly impressed by the hospitality you receive in Southeast Asia. It doesn't mean that everything is well. We behave differently when we deal with European leaders and American leaders because different cultures are involved. So there's this instinct in Southeast Asia to adjust ourselves to different foreigners who descend on our shores. That's part of our skill.
So we cannot play a balancing role between the US and China, but Europe can. I go to Europe quite often, partly because there's growing interest in China, even though officially they're all anti-China, but people are sensing that it's not right. I tell my European friends, if Europe shifts its weight from one foot to the other, like someone doing Tai Chi, you know, you can affect the balance. Let us say the US is bearing down on China and wants the Europeans to support them. There could be war. But if when that happens, the Europeans move a little bit more towards China, the US will have to restrain itself. In the same way, if China were unreasonable, Europe should shift weight a little to the other side, then China will have to restrain itself. So on the global scale, ASEAN cannot dictate one way or the other, but Europe can. To me, European leaders can decide the great issue of war and peace in the world. It's a pity that over Ukraine, European leaders lost their sense of history, saw Russia as an enemy without trying to understand why Russia did what it did, went along with the Americans, and when Trump changed US position, European leaders were left on the limb and now are scrambling to reorient themselves. I think a whole generation of European leaders will have to leave the stage and let a newer group come onto the stage to lead Europe forward. The pity in Europe is the weakness of leadership. While intellectually they may know that they can carry weight in the world, politically, very difficult. But I think those of us who are peacemakers in the world should encourage the Europeans to take a more autonomous position because it is in European interest and in the interest of the world.
An example is Africa. American policy in Africa is a mostly negative agenda. So recently, the commander of the African Command, based in Stuttgart, said that the entire Sahel is a southern flank of NATO. The US wanted to remove Traoré from Burkina Faso, accusing him of using the gold for himself when in fact he's using the gold for his own people. The American agenda in Africa now is to keep China out. But it's not possible. There must be two, three, four million Chinese in Africa now. They're building Africa's infrastructure. And this is good for Europe because what is Europe's greatest fear? That there'll be a flood of people entering Europe from across the Mediterranean. Remember, by 2050, one in four human beings will be African. By 2050, 40% of babies will be African. By 2050, 50% of babies will be Muslim, and most of the migrants going to Europe will be Muslims from North Africa. Why are they going to Europe? Because in country after country, nations were destabilized. In Libya, in Syria, Iraq. Europe's best strategy is to help them develop, then there's no need for them to leave Africa and risk their lives. No, even this Pope, the first thing he said was to recall Lampedusa, which was the first place Francis visited when he became Pope, to visit the Muslim refugees there. So really, on Africa, there's every reason for China and Europe to work together. But the European mentality is still very American, which is to see Africa as a sphere of influence, as if Africa belongs to them. Africa doesn't belong to anybody. It belongs to Africans. But Europeans have a vested interest in working with Chinese to develop Africa and to make it work. And Black Americans want that too. But not everybody in America. So, yeah, so I think you need a leadership in Europe which thinks more independently and which can help shift the balance and create better conditions for peace in the world. But ASEAN can't do that.
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