Thai activists reject U.S. call on WTO race<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai activists Tuesday rejected a U.S. appeal
\nfor calm over the highly charged race for the WTO leadership
\nafter Washington sparked fury here by failing to back Thailand's
\ncandidate.<\/p>\n
About 20 activists, including a Bangkok MP, delivered two
\nletters to the U.S. embassy here demanding U.S. neutrality in the
\nselection process for the World Trade Organization's new leader.<\/p>\n
Thailand has accused the U.S. of blocking a consensus behind
\nits candidate Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi in favor of
\nNew Zealand's former premier Mike Moore.<\/p>\n
"We are calling for neutrality from the U.S. and asking them
\nto ensure transparency in the selection process," said MP Chareon
\nKhantawong.<\/p>\n
"If the U.S. cannot live up to President Clinton's word,
\nplease tell the Thai people we cannot trust a letter from your
\npresident any more," he said.<\/p>\n
Chareon was referring to a letter in which President Bill
\nClinton told Thai Premier Chuan Leekpai that Washington would not
\nblock a consensus for Supachai.<\/p>\n
Following comments Monday in which senior U.S. envoy Ralph
\nBoyce called for calm after a wave of anger directed at the
\nUnited States, Chareon insisted the fault lay with Washington.<\/p>\n
"It is the U.S. which is making this issue serious because
\nthey are trying to block us," he said, adding that as long as
\ntransparency was guaranteed, Thailand would accept the result,
\nwin or lose.<\/p>\n
The letters were addressed to Boyce, U.S. deputy assistant
\nsecretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, and U.S.
\nambassador to Thailand Richard Hecklinger.<\/p>\n
The leadership campaign, which has split the 134 members of
\nthe WTO, is being viewed as a matter of national prestige in
\nThailand, which has been stung at the stance of the United States
\nwhich it regards as a close ally.<\/p>\n
Boyce warned Monday that Thai-U.S. relations could be damaged
\nby an anti-U.S. campaign whipped up by the press and some
\npoliticians.<\/p>\n
"I want to ask Thai people not to take this too seriously as
\nit is not good for relations between our two countries," Boyce
\ntold reporters in fluent Thai.<\/p>\n
"I want them to think about the long relations between the two
\ncountries."<\/p>\n
Reports here say WTO members will meet Wednesday to try to
\nthrash out a consensus for either candidate.<\/p>\n
The WTO has been without a leader since Renato Ruggiero of
\nItaly stepped down at the end of his term in April. The council
\nis due to meet on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In Geneva, a WTO spokesman said that the ruling General
\nCouncil of the trade organization will meet on Wednesday to
\ndiscuss the selection of the next WTO director-general, a
\nspokesman said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But prospects for breaking a deadlock between countries
\nfavoring Mike Moore, a former prime minister of New Zealand, and
\nthose backing Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi,
\nappear slim, according to trade envoys.<\/p>\n
The European Union's ambassador to the WTO told a news
\nconference last week that given the stalemate, the chairman
\nconducting the process, Tanzanian ambassador Ali Mchumo, may have
\nto declare that neither candidate can get the job.<\/p>",
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