Summit Ends Stressing Trade Over Rights

European and Asian leaders, ending their first economic summit, declared Saturday that they will forge a “strong partnership” in trade and investment but left contentious human rights issues unresolved.

European leaders, whose relations with Asia have lagged as they have concentrated on building the European Union, are eager to match the U.S. presence in some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

In a statement wrapping up the two-day meeting, leaders of the 15 European Union countries and 10 Asian nations said closer ties must be matched by the promotion of human rights without any meddling in one another’s affairs.

The reference to human rights--one sentence in a seven-page statement--was a compromise reflecting Asian resistance to linking human rights to trade:

“The [Asia-Europe] dialogue should be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, equality, promotion of fundamental rights and . . . nonintervention, whether direct or indirect, in each other’s internal affairs.”