APEC leaders set for tough talks

APEC leaders set for tough talks

Agence France-Presse, Busan, South Korea

Weighed down by gridlocked trade talks and targeted by anti-
globalization protests, Asia-Pacific leaders meet this week to
address pressing issues such as the economy, bird flu and
terrorism.

U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao
will be among the leaders taking part in the annual Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) summit, being held this year in
the South Korean port of Busan.

APEC's free-trade agenda has been overshadowed since the Sept.
11 attacks by security and terrorism, but problems preceding
December's World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Hong Kong will
dominate this week's meetings.

"The WTO is probably the highest priority for APEC," said a
U.S. official.

A bitter dispute over agriculture subsidies in rich countries
has brought warnings that the Dec. 13-18 Hong Kong meeting could
fail, a scenario that APEC leaders will try to head off in talks
on Friday and Saturday.

The leaders are set to issue a statement calling on all
nations involved in the talks to make concessions to ensure the
round of negotiations launched in the Qatari capital Doha in 2001
do not collapse.

"We are looking at a very powerful statement," South Korea's
APEC ambassador Kim Jong-Hoon said on Sunday. He said the exact
wording was still being debated.

Officials stressed there would be no negotiations on nitty-
gritty WTO problems, but that APEC leaders wanted to make a
strong political push to break the deadlock.

APEC was set up to forge a free trade area among the 21
countries and territories bordering the Pacific Ocean, and it has
become a magnet for protesters opposed to the inequalities of the
world's trading system.

A radical alliance of farmers, students, anti-globalization
groups and anti-war demonstrators has vowed to bring 100,000
people onto the streets of Busan to protest against the summit.

South Korean police have mobilized a huge security operation,
deploying over 30,000 officers and enforcing draconian land, sea
and air exclusion zones around the conference venues.

As China reported a new bird flu outbreak and global concern
over the H5N1 virus strain continued, APEC leaders were to pledge
closer cooperation, an action plan to combat a possible pandemic
and joint efforts to find a vaccine.

They were also expected to address the stockpiling of Tamiflu
and the relaxing of intellectual property regulations on the
antiviral drug, considered the best treatment for the virus in
humans.

The leaders are also expected to issue a strong statement
condemning terrorism following last week's hotel bombings in
Jordan.

As part of efforts to combat terrorism, APEC officials on
Sunday approved a U.S. proposal to check airports for
vulnerability to hand-held surface-to-air missiles.

The APEC forum was launched in 1989 and aims to establish a
free trade area by 2020. It only makes non-binding agreements,
which has led some analysts to question its relevance.

APEC foreign and trade ministers will meet on Tuesday and
Wednesday before the summit on Friday and Saturday, which will
finish with a photocall in which the leaders will wear the
Hanbok, a traditional Korean silk tunic.

The forum groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.