EU for Asia Brussels Briefing on 16 September - Asia-Europe Meeting: Priorities and Challenges

ASEM8 | Asia-Europe Meeting ASEM8 - Brussels 2010

The ASEM 8 Visibility Team would like to inform you about the following event:

EU for Asia Brussels Briefing

Asia-Europe Meeting: Priorities and Challenges

Thursday, 16 September 2010, 10.30-12.30 (registration & coffee from 10.00)

EPC Conference Room, 155 Rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels

The European Policy Centre, in cooperation with Leiden University, the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, is organising an EU for Asia Brussels Briefing on Asia-Europe Meeting: Priorities and Challenges, on Thursday 16 September from 10.30-12.30.

The eighth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to be held in Brussels on 4-5 October – bringing together 48 Asian and European leaders - offers both regions a unique opportunity to build a stronger and more effective 21st Century partnership to tackle key global challenges. Leaders will discuss joint action to revive the world economy, review global and regional hotspots and seek ways to tackle sustainable development challenges. In addition, Australia, New Zealand and Russia will be officially welcomed as new ASEM members.

However, in an inter-dependent world, are Asia and Europe ready to sidestep their differences and focus on what binds them? What are the expectations for ASEM 8? Will the meeting succeed in reinforcing the Asia-Europe dialogue?

These and other questions will be discussed by a panel including Thomas Roe, Asia Adviser and ASEM Counselor at the European Commission, Bertrand de Crombrugghe, Belgian Ambassador and Head of the ASEM 8 Task Force, Enrique A. Manalo, Ambassador of Philippines’ Mission to the European Union, Norio Maruyama, Head of the Political Affairs Section of the Japanese Mission to the European Union, and Christopher Dent, Professor at Leeds University. In addition, Lay Hwee Yeo, Director of the EU Centre in Singapore and Wilhelm Hofmeister, Regional Programme Director of KAS’s "Political Dialogue Asia" will present the contents of their new book The Asia-Europe Meeting: Engagement, Enlargement and Expectations. The debate will be moderated by Shada Islam, EPC Senior Programme Executive. A sandwich lunch will be served after the meeting.

Read more »

National Danger

Since I see national danger in my eyes, I want to extend my vision to you that Cambodia now is destroying itself.

Rain forests, and trees have been largely destroyed. Many vast areas of lands and farms lands of the people have been transferred to private hands and companies partly belong to government officials and foreigners.

Cambodia has become so hot now since no much forests and trees to reduce sun heat (partly also affects from global heat wave); many farmers are crying because no lands for farms, no home, no water, and no food. Are we as humans, as rational humans, happy with this?

Impossible that Cambodia will experience bloody revolution from farmers who will direct their anger to kill "government officials".

In their mind, "government officials" become scary words, frightening, terrible and hateful. They are afraid of this word - not respect.

The word "government officials" therefore refer to scary persons - and disdainful, greedy and no virtue, and uneducated.

To restore value of this word, and help Cambodia from the coming danger - the government must stop displacing people from their lands and farms - that make them poor, homeless, landless, and slaves on their lands. In 18th century in Europe, federalist corrupted bourgeois were destroyed by bloody revolution from the poor and the farmers. I see that Cambodia is moving toward this unknowingly. See nowadays, the use of armed forces and soldiers in a violent way to scare people and to evict people from their lands - the same as authoritarian and totalitarian regimes did in Europe about 200 years ago. But when these authoritarian and totalitarian regimes collapsed because more and more people became poor, landless, increasing workers / proletariats with no skills, and hence rampant corruption and inequality, all the poor, the workers and farmers were willing to die to change the regimes. A lot of killings were made on the government officials during that time. See for instances, they got rid of Louis XVI in France, and even Russian royal places and those church officials who joint hands with the corrupt elite.

This occur again in Cambodian in the 21st century.

Read more »

Posted in: document