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vii Foreword This book based on the IMEMO-ISEAS Moscow Conference of October 2006 is the second in the series. At the Moscow conference, one of the major themes discussed was the rise of China and its impact upon the Asia-Pacific economies, politics and security. The other major theme was the economic rise of Asia, as manifest in the increasing number of Free Trade Agreements, but which has not as yet involved the Russian Federation. These themes are discussed in detail in the conference papers published in this book. Russia has steadily stabilized under the firm rule of President Putin over the past seven years. Buoyed by rising energy exports and high oil and gas prices, Russia has enjoyed steady and high economic growth for the past three years. ASEAN on its part, has regained economic growth and stability ever since the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98. This has been due to the financial reforms put into place to prevent a recurrence of the crisis and also partly due to the economic growth and momentum of China’s stellar growth, which has acted as an economic locomotive on the neighbouring economies. With both sides of the dialogue enjoying steady growth, Russia and ASEAN are now rediscovering each other in various ways. For instance, some ASEAN countries that had postponed arms purchases from Russia were now able to place their orders once again. Visits by ASEAN leaders, like Malaysian Prime Minister A. Badawi and Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to Moscow in mid-2007 have taken place, whilst Russian ministers have also visited ASEAN countries. Indeed, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of Singaporean interactions with Russia in 2006–07, ranging from helping to set up two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Russia, increased investments and trade, Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights to Moscow, helping to upgrade airports, etc. Singapore has taken note of the increasing Russian 00 RUS_ASEAN Relations Prelims 10/10/07, 12:33 PM 7 viii viii Foreword prosperity, and has seized the opportunity to expand its economic space with Russia, just as it has done in the Middle East. The same trends could be observed in the other ASEAN countries. Myanmar has started a collaboration programme with Russia in nuclear energy. Malaysia will send its astronaut into space on board a Russian space vessel. Another good sign is the longoverdue start of the Russia–ASEAN Cooperation Fund. The regional strategic situation is fast evolving. Faced with a fast rising China, the United States has prepared to strengthen its security and political ties with Japan, India and Australia. China, on its part has not remained passive, but has also moved to strengthen ties with Russia and India and with other Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members, as well as with ASEAN. The revival of Japan has been noticed, but equally the rise of Russia should also be heeded. In 2007, Moscow under the strong leadership of President Putin, has flexed its muscle over energy issues and exports to Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, with consequent knock-on effects upon European Union (EU) energy security. In mid-2007, Moscow has demonstrated its unhappiness over the emplacement of U.S. missile defences in Poland and the Czech Republic. Over in the Asia-Pacific region, Russia’s defence exercises with China in 2005 and with India in 2007 demonstrated that Russia is back as a strategic actor in regional security. It is thus timely and useful for the IMEMO-ISEAS dialogue to continue, and for the conference papers to be published in order to keep regional policy-makers informed about trends and views. Russia has a deep and legitimate role and interest in regional affairs, whether it is in economics, politics, regional security or regional architecture building. Its role in the SixParty Talks over the North Korea nuclear issues has been helpful: witness the intermediary role a Russian bank played in transferring the blocked North Korean funds from a Macau bank back to Pyongyang. The revival of the Russian Pacific fleet activities in the Asia-Pacific Indian Ocean strategic theatre is a sign of the resumed Russian profile in the region. As the ASEAN states sit astride the vital straits and choke-points connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans, such maritime activities are of immediate and profound interest in ASEAN capitals. One scholar at an ISEAS lecture in June 2007, has spoken of a possible conflict occurring in the Asia-Pacific region after 2010, which is only three...

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