Land rows overshadow APEC meeting<\/p>\n
By Richard Ingham<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (AFP): Sovereignty disputes that arc from Northeast
\nAsia to the South China Sea, coupled to fears of resurgent
\nnationalism, make a troubling backcloth for the upcoming APEC
\nsummit in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Since APEC last met in Osaka a year ago, ugly squabbles have
\ndeveloped among the leading Asian members of an organization that
\nloves to boast how it runs on friendly, neighborly consensus.
\nChina has fallen out with Japan over the Senkaku-Diaoyu islands
\nin the East China Sea. Tokyo is at loggerheads with Seoul over
\nthe Tokdo-Takeshima archipelago.<\/p>\n
Beijing in March staged military exercises near Taiwan,
\nincluding live missile firings off its two key ports, in a bid to
\nintimidate the Taiwanese presidential elections.<\/p>\n
And four members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
\n(APEC) forum -- Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan -- are still
\njousting over who owns the reputedly mineral-rich Spratly Islands
\nin the South China Sea. A fifth claimant is Vietnam, which has
\napplied to join APEC.<\/p>\n
\"It's not been a good year,\" commented Jean-Philippe Beja of
\nFrance's Center for Studies on Contemporary China, a Hong Kong-
\nbased research organization.<\/p>\n
That's an agreement shared by Kwan Chi-hung, senior economist
\nat Nomura Research Institute in Tokyo, who says the tension seems
\nto have sharpened regional perception that China is a potential
\nmenace.<\/p>\n
\"Some people now view China as a threat in the long run, not
\njust militarily but also as an economic power,\" Kwan said. \"A
\ntrend of shifting investment has become clear in recent months,
\nfrom ASEAN to China. Some countries may view China as a threat
\nrather than an opportunity.\"<\/p>\n
ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprises
\nBrunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
\nand Vietnam.<\/p>\n
APEC is a loose grouping of 18 economies, including Canada,
\nthe United States and Chile, that is aiming to forge free trade
\namong its members by 2020 at the latest.<\/p>\n
Analysts agree that China's saber-rattling towards Taiwan had
\nbeen a disastrous mistake by Beijing.<\/p>\n
Washington, which sent the U.S. Navy to protect the Chinese
\nNationalist island, quickly reasserted its role as guarantor of
\nregional security. The U.S.-Japanese security treaty, which was
\nunder threat from public hostility, was revived with hardly a
\nmurmur.<\/p>\n
Beja said, however, that a potentially bigger source of alarm
\nin the region was Japan.<\/p>\n
China, he contended, was getting a bad press: it had backed
\noff on threatening Taiwan, concluded its series of nuclear tests,
\nand had been far less aggressive on the Diaoyu-Senkaku dispute
\nthan Chinese activists in Hong Kong and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
\"On the other hand, there has been a resurgence of Japanese
\narrogance, which is being particularly felt in (South) Korea.
\nLast year, the Japanese government embarked on a period of humble
\nreflection on World War II, but this has all ended with (Prime
\nMinister Ryutaro) Hashimoto.\"<\/p>\n
Growlings and rumblings on the strategic front are unlikely to
\nbe heard in public at the APEC summit at Subic Bay on Nov. 25,
\nwhich will be preceded by ministerial talks in Manila next week.
\n\"Consensus and trumpeting the glory of the region are the norm,\"
\nsaid Beja.<\/p>\n
Even so, China will be under pressure to show good faith,
\nanalysts said. It has to show by market-opening measures that it
\nis a good member of APEC and anchored in its commitment to free
\ntrade and an open economy that will help guarantee regional
\nstability.<\/p>\n
\"They have to show they are committed to a multilateral
\nregime,\" said Kwok-chiu Fong, associate director of the Center
\nfor Economic Research at Hong Kong University.<\/p>\n
He noted that the APEC summit takes place in the runup to a
\nmeeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Singapore.
\nChina is negotiating to join that forum but has run into U.S.
\ninsistence that its economy become more transparent and less
\nhedged with subsidies and import tariffs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/land-rows-overshadow-apec-meeting-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}