Australia signed a peace treaty with its Southeast Asian neighbours on Saturday and rejected what it called puerile comments about it being America's deputy sheriff in the region.
"I think even you could move beyond the puerile allegations of deputy sheriff," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer snapped at a reporter when asked about the role often ascribed to Australia as a proxy for Washington in the region.
Downer was speaking at a news conference in the Malaysian capital moments before he signed the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia, which calls for signatories not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.
The treaty was born within the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), which made signing the pact a condition for entry into next week's inaugural East Asian summit.
Australia hesitated to sign the treaty, saying it might conflict with its existing security arrangements with the United States, but reconsidered when it became clear that Canberra would not be invited to the summit without its signature.
"Being part of the East Asia summit, that's a quid pro quo we are happy to live with," Downer said, adding that Australia had received guarantees from Asean that its signature on the treaty would not disturb its existing treaty arrangements.
Australia's entry into the East Asia summit, along with Asean states and Japan, China, South Korea, India and New Zealand, follows the 2003 retirement of former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, who had always opposed its membership in Asian forum.
Mahathir routinely calls Australia the deputy sheriff of Washington in Asia.
"Now Australia is basically European and it has made clear to the rest of the world it is the deputy sheriff to America," Mahathir told a news conference on Wednesday.
Mahathir, who first pushed for a summit of East Asian leaders 14 years ago, said he felt the inclusion of Australia and New Zealand had subverted the development of a genuinely Asian forum.
"We are not going to have an East Asian summit. We are going to have an East Asia-Australasia summit," he said.
In contrast, Malaysia's new administration, under Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has struck a much more welcoming tone with Australia.
"I think the fact that they have subscribed to the Treaty of Amity and Co-operation shows that geopolitically and geoeconomically they want to be part of this region and to participate and contribute. We welcome this," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters on Saturday.
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