Politics comes before economics at APEC meeting<\/p>\n
By Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
OSAKA, Japan (JP): Political and security issues come before
\neconomics at a gathering of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum, although they are discussed on
\nthe sidelines, rather than in the forum proper.<\/p>\n
The leaders held yesterday separate bilateral meetings on the
\neve of their annual summit, in which they are expected to endorse
\nan ambitious action agenda to turn the Asia-Pacific into free
\ntrade zone by 2020 at the latest.<\/p>\n
Despite declarations by their officials that APEC is strictly
\na forum of consultation on economic issues, most of the 18 APEC
\nleaders arrived two days early, to use the opportunity to hold
\nbilateral meetings in which politics, including security issues,
\nfeature prominently in the discussions.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, President Soeharto of Indonesia held seven such
\nmeetings, most of them at the Westin Hotel, where he is staying
\nfor the three days of his Osaka visit.<\/p>\n
He met with New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger, Australian
\nPrime Minister Paul Keating, Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok
\nTong, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, President
\nErnesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon of Mexico, Koo Chen-fu
\n(representative of the Taiwan president), and Brunei Sultan
\nHassanal Bolkiah.<\/p>\n
Murayama, host of today's APEC summit, also held meetings with
\nmost of the leaders, reviewing the preparations for the
\nconference and other political and security issues.<\/p>\n
Security forum<\/p>\n
Most APEC ministers, during the course of their meeting
\nearlier this week, rejected a suggestion made by U.S. Defense
\nSecretary William Perry to give APEC a security dimension.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas dismissed
\nthe proposal out of hand, saying that regional security concerns
\nare already addressed in another forum, the ASEAN Regional Forum
\n(ARF), which involves 18 countries.<\/p>\n
APEC, Alatas said on Friday, "was never designed to, and must
\nnever evolve into, something other than an economic consultative
\nand cooperation body".<\/p>\n
"The ARF is to develop a capacity for transparency, mutual
\nconfidence-building measures eventually for solving problems if
\nwe have them.<\/p>\n
"So let's keep them separate (ARF and APEC), if we don't we
\nmay be mixing apples and pears and you won't get a good result,"
\nAlatas said.<\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Australian Foreign
\nMinister Gareth Evans have also rejected Perry's idea.<\/p>\n
Describing it as "an extreme complication at this stage",
\nEvans said that APEC has worked as well as it has because its
\nbrief has wholly been focused on economic cooperation, trade and
\ninvestment liberalization.<\/p>\n
Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono also said that the proper
\nforum to discuss security concerns is the ARF.<\/p>\n
Security of another kind is also the concern of the host
\nnation, which has deployed more than 25,000 police officers for
\nthe APEC conferences, that began last week and reaches its climax
\nwith the leaders meeting this Sunday.<\/p>\n
With 18 leaders in town, the authorities are sparing no
\nefforts in ensuring their safety, putting up road blocks on roads
\nleading to the New Otani, Westin and other hotels where the
\ndignitaries are staying.<\/p>\n
The 16th century Osaka Castle, the site where the APEC leaders
\nwill go for their "retreat" on Sunday, has also been closed to
\ntourists and is heavily guarded.<\/p>\n
Last night, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama hosted
\nan informal dinner for the 17 other APEC leaders.<\/p>\n
Action Agenda<\/p>\n
APEC's Action Agenda, to be endorsed today, sets out nine
\nbasic principles on trade liberalization and the steps that each
\nmembers should pursue to reach that goal of free trade by the
\nagreed deadline.<\/p>\n
Fifteen areas have been earmarked for specific action in the
\nagenda: tariffs, non-tariff measures, services, investment,
\nstandards and conformance, customs procedures, intellectual
\nproperty rights, competition policy, government procurement,
\nderegulation, rules of origin, dispute mediation, mobility of
\nbusiness people, implementation of the Uruguay Round outcomes,
\nand information gathering and analysis.<\/p>\n
APEC, founded in 1989 as a consultative forum, comprises
\nAustralia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
\nJapan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
This is the third time that APEC leaders meet. In Seattle, the
\nUnited States, in 1993, they set out their vision of an Asia-
\nPacific community; in Bogor, Indonesia, the following year, they
\ndeclared their intention to move to completely free their
\nmarkets, setting a 2010 deadline for developed economies and 2020
\nfor developing economies.<\/p>",
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