APEC a triumph for the Asian way<\/p>\n
By Alistair McIntosh<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): Whatever else was achieved at the annual APEC
\nextravaganza, which has just ended in Manila, it signaled a
\ntriumph for the Asian way.<\/p>\n
And whatever defects the Asian way might have, participants
\nand analysts on Tuesday were almost unanimous in believing that
\nit will work to turn APEC's goals into reality.<\/p>\n
Despite U.S. President Bill Clinton's direct personal lobbying
\nefforts, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
\nfailed to deliver unequivocal endorsement of a U.S. proposal for
\na united APEC front on information technology products.<\/p>\n
While the 18 leaders agreed to back efforts to achieve tariff-
\nfreed trade in computers and software by 2000 at the World Trade
\nOrganization, they also ensured they had a get-out clause by
\nemphasizing the need for "flexibility".<\/p>\n
"The fact that each nation -- even Papua New Guinea -- can
\nbasically blackball any APEC decision is an effective way to at
\nleast frustrate the United States," University of the Philippines
\npolitical science professor Alex Magno said in an interview.<\/p>\n
As one Singaporean diplomat put it months before Monday's
\nsummit, APEC was being used to "tame" the U.S. preference for
\ndirect, confrontational methods.<\/p>\n
Nor was there any hint APEC might move away from its
\nvoluntary, consensual approach to a more formal, legally-binding
\nstructure used in other trade groupings such as the European
\nUnion.<\/p>\n
Efforts by non-governmental groups to get APEC to lay greater
\nstress on democracy were also diluted into vague commitments to
\nfoster "development with a human face".<\/p>\n
These efforts were personally backed by summit host President
\nFidel Ramos of the Philippines, who has guided his nation to an
\neconomic renaissance without having to restrain the Filipino
\nappetite for frenzied democracy.<\/p>\n
Almost every other country in Asia is far less enthusiastic
\nabout human rights and democracy.<\/p>\n
Even the issue of expanding APEC's membership was hampered by
\nconcerns that making it any bigger would damage the grouping's
\ncosy, tea-house atmosphere.<\/p>\n
But this consensual approach and its emphasis on the virtues
\nof face-to-face contact and the building up of trust are likely
\nto produce the desired results -- setting up the world's biggest
\nfree trade region by the year 2020.<\/p>\n
"The APEC process lends itself to strong progress," said
\nPhilippine APEC delegate Edsel Custodio, assistant trade
\nsecretary, pointing out that APEC made more progress in one year
\nin reducing tariffs than global trade talks did in nearly a
\ndecade.<\/p>\n
There was one major note of caution, however, sounded by
\nEdgardo Boeninger, Chilean chairman of the Pacific Economic
\nCooperation Council (PECC).<\/p>\n
Boeninger, in a quick assessment of the 1996 summit on
\nTuesday, said it was vital that nations should not be allowed to
\nreplace tariff barriers with non-tariff obstacles such as
\nelaborate bureaucratic procedures.<\/p>\n
"This is something we have to be very careful in avoiding," he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
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