Cooper: Britain retreated to Europe and Malaysia to replace European countries, as Britain's key trading partners. My recent trip to Southeast Asia shows how ridiculous it is.

Malaysia uses a British three-legged plug and the car travels on the left side of the road . Elite celebrates the career plan of Boris Johnson, the former British mayor, Of the opinion cargo from china. Kuala Lumpur's Independence Square (Merdeka Square) still has an old concrete cricket court. In 1957, on the night of the independence of Malaysia, the British flag (Union Jack) was here to fall. Prime Minister Najib Razak is an alumnus of Malvern College and Nottingham University in the UK.

If there is a plan to support the retreat of the United Kingdom, the plan will involve pre-colonies in Malaysia and Singapore. They should replace the European countries, as Britain's key trading partners . Many support for the retreat also "global Britain" as a trade hub like Singapore dare to do dare. Daniel Hannan, the European-style theorist, said in a statement last month when he set up his free-trade think tank, "I am looking at the Singaporean High Commissioner." The wealth of Singapore has come from us Half of what we have become. What are the magic recipes? Just do it, they removed their own barriers china international shipping.

Can Southeast Asia save Britain from retreat? When I visited the area recently, I asked the idea of ​​local investors and officials. No doubt, the British had dominated the business there. "When I first went to Kuala Lumpur in 1968, the bus ticket was still printed in London," a retired merchant told me, "the British firm dominates everything ." That situation is over. Today, most Malaysian elites mainly regard Britain as a place to buy real estate, watch football, and let their children study abroad. Britain is now only Malaysia's 17th largest trading partner.

Will this be because we have been dragged down by the European Union (EU) because the EU can not even reach a free trade agreement with Malaysia and Singapore shipping from hong kong? But in fact, it's not. Germany and the Netherlands trade in Malaysia, more than the trade between Britain and Malaysia. "You will be surprised to find that you are not our largest trading partner in the EU," said Chi Hsia Foo, a Singaporean high commissioner at a meeting in the UK last month. "Germany, the Netherlands and France are trading in Singapore, Trade between Britain and Singapore.