I am delighted to represent the United States at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC). I am pleased to have this opportunity to exchange views with my counterparts from all of the ASEAN countries.

President Clinton's visit to Japan and South Korea earlier this month testified to the commitment of the United States to join with others to forge anew Pacific Community. I am here today to reaffirm America's intention to fulfill its leadership role here and around the world.

I am also here to explicitly state America's continuing commitment to work with ASEAN. Over the years, a sub-regional identity has emerged among ASEAN's member states. The pattern of cooperation and dialogue that this organization has developed can be an example for other parts of the world.

Now we have the chance to strengthen further the already significant economic relations between the United States and ASEAN. The U.S. is the first or second largest trading partner of each of the six ASEAN countries. ASEAN as a whole is our. fourth largest trading partner. In 1992, U.S.-ASEAN trade reached 60 billion dollars.

That growing trade reinforces the close relationship that the U.S. and the ASEAN nations have enjoyed since the organization's inception. Close economic ties and economic liberalization bring demonstrable benefits to our workers and businesses. That is why the ASEAN nations were so-instrumental in launching the Uruguay Round negotiations and why I hope this organization will do its part to bring the Round to a successful conclusion.

Ttiat is also why we wholeheartedly supported ASEAN's decision to initiate the liberalization of regional trade through the ASEAN Free Trade Area, AFTA. GATT-consistent AFTA that sheds barriers to trade and investment within the region without erecting new obstacles to outside trade will promote higher growth among its members and trading partners. Just as ASEAN economies stand to gain from the wealth-generating effects of NAFTA, so we believe our economy will benefit from higher growth rates resulting from AFTA. As AFTA and NAFTA develop, we stand ready to explore with you potential linkages between them in pursuit of a more open global trading system.

Our belief in the benefits of regional trade liberalization underlies our commitment to APEC as the cornerstone of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation. Representing almost half the world's GNP, APEC can be one of the focal points for building a New Pacific Community. APEC can also provide the framework for advancing trans-Pacific economic cooperation and integration expanding trade and increasing investment flows through the principle of it open-regionalism." We are pleased that APEC's Secretariat was established in an ASEAN capital, right here in Singapore. And we are looking forward to hosting this year's APEC Ministerial in Seattle.

Our nations also need to cooperate more closely on non-economic global issues. In the wake of the Cold War, we must focus more clearly on transnational problems such as terrorism, refugees, environmental degradation, and narcotics production and trafficking. These problems know no borders or boundaries. Left unchecked, they will undermine our security and erode our prosperity.

Attacking these problems is an important new thrust of American foreign policy under President Clinton. To underscore our determination, we are creating a new position in the State Department -- the Under Secretary for Global Affairs. We are prepared to work closely with ASEAN to find new, more effective ways to address these problems and build a brighter future together.

Because of continued security threats, the U.S. places great value on our treaty alliances with Thailand and the Philippines. We are also encouraged by the steady progress that we have made in strengthening our bilateral defense ties with each of the ASEAN countries. These alliances and other bilateral defense arrangements reflect our shared interest in maintaining security and stability in this region. Without permanent bases in Southeast Asia, we can support our forward deployment through access to host government facilities and through commercial arrangements. We believe this "places not bases" approach meets the requirements of our mutual and continuing security needs.

While alliances and bilateral defense relationships will remain the cornerstone of American strategy in Southeast Asia, the Clinton Administration welcomes multilateral security consultations -- especially within the framework of the PMC. Such consultations can help reduce tensions, enhance openness, and discourage arms races and other destabilizing actions.

ASEAN is especially valuable for its contribution to regional peace. Since its founding in 1967, ASEAN has been a force for regional stability and cooperation.

I point to ASEAN's important role in the Cambodian peace process as a prime example of what it can do to help bring peace and democracy to the region. The election held this spring was a stunning success, but the new Cambodian government will face the arduous task of rebuilding a country crippled by years of genocide, and by continuing violence and turmoil. The U.S. remains committed to the Cambodian people and the democratic future they deserve. We welcome the intention of ASEAN members to continue their strong support of Cambodia's valiant struggle to become a politically stable and economically self-sustaining member of the region and the international community.

In Burma, we have seen some positive but still very limited changes. We must continue to press the Burmese military regime to heed the democratic aspirations of its people, to adopt fundamental political reforms and to respect human rights, including the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi. Unfortunately, Burma's problems intrude upon its neighbors, as Burma is the region's largest generator of refugees, and the source of the majority of the world's heroin. As long as the Burmese dictatorship resists genuine democratic reform, it will continue to be a source of instability and tension for all its neighbors.

President Clinton has made promoting democracy and protecting human rights a central pillar of our foreign policy. Americans believe that economic and social development are inseparable from democracy and respect for human rights. Nations that free human potential -- that invest in their people and defend the lawful rights of individuals -- have a better chance to develop and grow. On the other hand, regimes that have no respect for democracy and human rights tend to project their cruelty, violence, and aggression beyond their borders.

America respects the religious, historic and cultural characteristics that make each country unique. At the same time, we also firmly believe in the universality of human rights-- and we were pleased that the international community reaffirmed this fundamental principle at the World Conference on

Human Rights in Vienna. No nation, including the United States, can claim perfection. But we refuse, as President Clinton has said, "to let repression cloak itself in moral relativism." The yearnings for freedom are not a Western export; they are a human instinct. As this decade moves on, governments around the world will recognize that human rights can no longer be denied and that democratic aspirations can no longer be delayed.

In closing, let me emphasize how pleased I am that we are inaugurating this new era of cooperation between the U.S. and ASEAN, an era liberated from the deep divisions of the Cold War, animated by the promise of shared prosperity, and dedicated to the premise that we are full and equal partners in the great enterprise of creating a New Pacific Community. Let us begin this new partnership now.

Thank you.