Positive moves amid all the gloom<\/p>\n
One significant feature of the just-ended Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum was that speaker after speaker
\nhammered home the same message: Globalisation is here to stay; it
\nis the way of the future.''<\/p>\n
Yes, the summit was held in the shadow of financial turmoil in
\nAsia. But the majority of delegates obviously felt that countries
\nin this region and elsewhere can still profit from the global
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
There is still a strong case, they insisted, for the view that
\nopen economies and the unhindered movement of capital are net
\ncreators of wealth.<\/p>\n
In the post-Cold War world the concept of Pacific defence is
\nno longer a narrow matter of military deployments alone.<\/p>\n
A majority of APEC delegates clearly believe that security in
\nthe broadest and most important sense, in an interdependent world
\nwhere no one nation stands omnipotent, is a matter of fostering
\nties to others based on common interests. They also believe that
\nthese common interests include the ideal of global free markets
\nand unimpeded flows of capital.<\/p>\n
There can be no doubt that the growing integration of the
\nworld economy has in general been an engine of mutual enrichment.<\/p>\n
Why, then, do the critics of globalisation continue to strike
\nsuch a responsive chord? It is human nature to fear change and
\nthe instinct of many nationalists to oppose it. But this kind of
\nnarrow, nationalist thinking did not carry much weight in
\nVancouver. Participants in APEC meetings have in the past spent
\ntoo much time chasing concepts which are, in large part,
\nintangible.<\/p>\n
But this meeting was different. The gloomy news from Asia
\nforced delegates to come up with some practical, tangible steps
\naimed at avoiding a repetition of this kind of financial turmoil
\nin the future. And this was the biggest achievement of the APEC
\nsummit.<\/p>\n
--Hong Kong Standard<\/p>\n
;AFP;HBK;
\nANPAk..r..
\nAustralia-racism-policy
\nBeing Pauline can be perilous
\nJP\/4\/OTHER2<\/p>\n
Being Pauline can be perilous<\/p>\n
There's nothing like a good conspiracy theory to stir the
\nimagination of people who like to talk in hushed tones of
\nsinister and bizarre plots to turn us all into automatons.<\/p>\n
The best of theories always seems to revolve around
\ninternational conspiracies financed by mega-rich industrialists,
\nbankers and, of course, arms merchants who want devilish
\nforeigners to foist alien traditions upon god-fearing, decent
\nfolk who like to go to home improvement stores at weekends.<\/p>\n
In extreme cases, the plotters grand design is to force
\nnoodles upon people who prefer fish and chips.<\/p>\n
To qualify for a starring role in any such conspiracy theory,
\nit helps if the subject is no longer of this planet.<\/p>\n
Pauline Hanson, however, has a problem. In the physical sense,
\nthe sole member of Australia's One Nation Party is still very
\nmuch of this planet, in Canberra, to be precise, even if her
\nideas belong to a more distant corner of the Milky Way.<\/p>\n
In her movie debut, Pauline does not explain how she came to
\nbe murdered but we suspect the agent of her demise was a horrible
\nhairy spider from the jungles of Borneo or perhaps the driver of
\na 10-wheel truck. She does not say if she expects to meet Elvis.<\/p>\n
Back on Planet Earth, the late Pauline has said she would like
\nher video to be broadcast on national television in the event of
\nher death, which will, of course, be untimely. \"Fellow
\nAustralians,\" explains the ex-Pauline, \"if you are seeing me now,
\nit means I have been murdered. For the sake of our children and
\nour children's children, you must fight on. Do not let my passing
\ndistract you for one moment.\"<\/p>\n
The fight that the former Pauline refers to is her campaign to
\nstop Asian immigrants from swamping Australia and native
\nAustralians from making claims to some of the nations bounty.<\/p>\n
The independent MP from the semi-tropical state of Queensland,
\nwho also insists that Aborigines ate one another and that people
\nof a darker hue to herself are inferior, has made her move at a
\ntime when her credibility is flagging.<\/p>\n
Her bid for celluloid immortality, it seems, is a desperate
\nattempt to revive the populist fortunes of a woman who is
\npatently dim.<\/p>\n
--Bangkok Post<\/p>\n
;JP;HPR;
\nANPAk..r..
\nOtheropinion-APEC
\nA speedy end to the crisis?
\nJP\/4\/OTHER3<\/p>\n
A speedy end to the crisis?<\/p>\n
Considering the results achieved at the APEC Economic Leaders
\nMeeting (AELM) in Vancouver -- particularly in relation to
\nefforts to surmount the monetary crisis which is at present
\nengulfing several APEC countries, including Indonesia -- there
\nappears to be reason to be optimistic that the turmoil which
\nbegan in July this year can be ended before very long.<\/p>\n
The Vancouver declaration, among other things, designates 1997
\nas the APEC Year of Action to speed up liberalization in trade
\nand investment as a follow-up to the Manila Action Plan for APEC
\n(MAPA). For Indonesia, this means that the efforts that are now
\nbeing made to overcome the present monetary crisis must also
\nserve as a starting point for taking follow-up actions related to
\nMAPA.<\/p>\n
Finally it seems that, after the Vancouver Declaration, there
\nis no choice for Indonesia but to intensify our economic
\nreformation efforts so that we will be able to reap the greatest
\npossible benefits.<\/p>\n
-- Suara Karya, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/positive-moves-amid-all-the-gloom-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }