comity of nations, provided the price paid is not too high. ASEAN
must be the judge of this. Whatever the ASEAN countries decide to do
in this, as in other fields, would certainly meet with the sympathy
and support of the UK. It is, of course, impossible to say how ASEAN
will develop in the future. One suggestion is that it may turn into
a Free Trade Area or even a Common Market. This would not happen in
the immediate future but may well be a more distant goal. Other
observers claim that ASEAN will inevitably evolve into a defence and
security organisation, in addition to its economic and political
functions. These are controversial issues and ones which only ASEAN
can decide.
Whatever the outcome, however, it is difficult to
envisage any diminution in the goodwill which the UK, and indeed the
EC as a whole, has shown towards the Association within the past few
years.
C