Forthright former Hong Kong governor returns to woo Asia

But the Briton, who famously sailed out of Asia on the royal yacht Britannia after handing Hong Kong back to China in 1997 returns this week to play a pivotal role in preparations for a two-day EU-Asia summit starting Friday in Seoul. Despite ruffling Asian feathers during and after his five years as Britain's last Hong Kong governor, Patten is widely respected for his firsthand knowledge of the continent, even from former sparing partners. "He's a very charming man. ... he's been very critical of politics in some Asian countries and that's not made him very popular," said Renji Sathiah, Malaysia's former envoy to the EU. "But he's no fool (and) his time in Hong Kong should have him clued up." Since taking over last year as the EU external relations commissioner, Patten has repeatedly stressed the need to improve Europe's political ties with a region that accounts for a quarter of EU trade. "I regard the relationship between Europe and Asia as particularly important," Patten told senior Asian journalists visiting the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, last week. "We are enormously important trade partners with Asia, we are enormously important investment partners. ... I very much hope that out of that (Seoul) summit we'll see an enhancement and deepening of our political dialogue." The talks in Seoul will bring together leaders from 15 EU and 10 Asian nations for the third time since biennial meetings were launched in 1996 to intensify ties between leaders who represent 44 percent of the world population and 54 percent of the global economy.

Patten's previous bridge-building attempts included a July dinner in Bangkok where he charmed southeast Asian ministers by crooning "Knowing me, knowing EU" to the tune of an Abba hit and a return visit to China where he received a polite, if cool reception. Quite a contrast to the days when he was denounced in Beijing as a "serpent" and "the whore of the East" for his drive to introduce democratic reforms in the final years of British rule. In his book "East and West," published in 1998, Patten lambastes western politicians for pandering to China's Communist leaders. He calls them an endangered species, whose power "is constructed on quicksand. The book also has harsh words for Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad and Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for restricting democracy in the name of "Asian values." Asian editors who met him in Brussels said a year at the EU head office appears to have mellowed Patten.

(AP)