U.S. cannot impose its values: Bush<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former U.S. president George Bush said here last
\nnight that the United States should not lecture other countries
\non human rights and the environment because every single country
\nhas its own culture and systems.<\/p>\n
\"We put forward requirements on environment and requirements
\non human rights. However, there are totally different cultures,
\ndifferent systems of believing in human rights, but in different
\nways they perceive,\" Bush said at a gala dinner hosted by
\nCitibank last night.<\/p>\n
Present at the gala dinner were, among others, Minister of
\nForeign Affairs Ali Alatas, State Minister of Investment Sanyoto
\nSastrowardoyo and Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja.<\/p>\n
Bush suggested that attempting to improve human rights and
\nenvironmental conditions in any country by quiet diplomacy would
\nbring better results rather than by \"hitting them right in their
\nfaces\".<\/p>\n
When asked Bush declined to comment on Indonesia's human
\nrights record, saying, \"I'm not expert on the internal affairs of
\nthis country.\"<\/p>\n
He then described human rights developments in China after the
\nTiananmen Square tragedy in 1989 and in Singapore after the
\ncanning of an American teenager for vandalism earlier this year
\nas good results of U.S. diplomacy.<\/p>\n
Bush, who was in Singapore when the canning took place, said
\nSingapore now could open up a bit on the issue of human rights
\nafter the United States tried to intervene with its political
\nmuscle to change Singapore's view on human rights.<\/p>\n
He also recognized that there are far more individual human
\nrights in China today, as compared to the time before the
\nTiananmen tragedy.<\/p>\n
\"Pressing for changes, yes, it is needed. But you wouldn't
\nreach the goals if you humiliated somebody you want to change,\"
\nBush said.<\/p>\n
He also stressed security arrangements in the region involving
\nthe United States as the stabilizing power. He recognized that
\nalthough the region seems to be stable, there are still some
\nthreats looming.<\/p>\n
\"Our enemy now is instability and unpredictability. Who knows,
\na Sadam Hussein could come up here in the region,\" Bush said.
\n\"I'm the one who does not trust North Korea. I want to see its
\nreal steps for opening its nuclear program.\"<\/p>\n
Bush said he expected that there would be a military
\nrelationship between the United States and Indonesia to ensure
\npeace in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
APEC<\/p>\n
Bush last night praised President Soeharto's leadership in the
\nsecond informal conference of the Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) in Bogor, south of here, in the middle of this
\nmonth. The gathering came up with an agreement on the gradual
\nliberalization of trade and investment in the region by 2010 for
\ndeveloped members and by 2020 for developing members.<\/p>\n
\"I salute President Soeharto for having the vision to push
\nthat meeting,\" Bush said, adding that APEC's move would create
\nthe world's largest free trade area.<\/p>\n
APEC groups 18 economies -- Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
\nChina, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New
\nZealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South
\nKorea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States -- which
\ntogether control 50 percent of the world's Gross National
\nProducts (GNP) and 60 percent of the global merchandise trade.<\/p>\n
However, he warned that the agreement would be difficult to
\nimplement unless APEC leaders lay out blueprints. \"There are
\nstill a lot of details needed to be clarified.\"<\/p>\n
When queried about the possibility of the ratification of the
\nnew Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) by the U.S. Congress,
\nBush predicted that it would be passed, and \"it must be passed\".<\/p>\n
He said if the United States failed to ratify it next week,
\nthe World Trade Organization, which was negotiated for seven
\nyears, would be in danger of collapsing.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Senate Republican leader Robert Dole laid his
\nsupport behind Democrat President Bill Clinton for the world
\ntrade pact.<\/p>\n
Bush also assured that the North Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
\nwhich involves the United States, Canada and Mexico, is not a
\ntrade bloc because it is still consistent with GATT principles.
\nThe GATT treaty allows any regional grouping as long as it does
\nnot raise new barriers for non-member countries.<\/p>\n
\"I hope everybody here to look at NAFTA not as a trade
\nbloc ... but a trading partner,\" Bush said. (rid)<\/p>",
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