SYDNEY -- A bridge between East Asia and the South Pacific has been formed. The way is open for economic and security links to be strengthened between the Asian mainland and its Southern Hemisphere neighbors.
A crowded week of meetings in Canberra has forged closer ties with Indonesia and Malaysia. In the wake of Australia's free-trade deals with Singapore and Thailand the way is now open for similar agreements with the next prospective partners, Japan and China. On the Canberra agenda after that are strategic links stretching to India.
What a week it has been. First the Indonesian leader drops in, then the head of Malaysia. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was kept so busy talking deals he had to skip a flight to Rome for the pope's funeral.