Batik and smiles hide APEC summit brouhaha

Batik and smiles hide APEC summit brouhaha

CYBERJAYA, Malaysia (Agencies): Asia-Pacific leaders put on batik shirts and best smiles on Wednesday to brave out their uneasy annual summit in the heart of Malaysia's site for a futuristic high-tech city.

The 21 presidents, prime ministers and government leaders gathered at an oil-palm plantation set to be the heart of a future "Silicon Valley" city for their annual fashion statement.

Dressed in red, green, blue and purple batik shirts, the leaders waved and tried to seem relaxed as they came to end of what has been one of the tensest summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The photo has traditionally been one of the jolliest events of the annual summit. Leaders also wore batik shirts in Bogor, Indonesia, while in Manila they donned peasant-style "barong tagalog".

They were allowed to take off their ties in Osaka, Japan, while in Canada last year they wore leather bomber jackets.

U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who set off a diplomatic storm by giving a speech in support of Malaysia pro-reform activists, was at one end of the line.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was in the middle of the group, though the two did briefly walk together across the Cyberview Lodge lawn.

Thailand sympathizes with some of the comments made by Gore at the APEC summit this week but is uncomfortable with how they were expressed, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said.

Surin said in an interview with Reuters Television on the sidelines of the summit that it was not always helpful to be blunt on sensitive issues.

"Thailand has done similar things but has communicated its views in a very quiet and friendly manner and I think that is one way of passing on our concern," he said.

"It is a big problem but you have to be extremely careful." Surin has suggested this year that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) scrap its traditional policy of non- interference in each others' domestic affairs and adopt a more flexible approach to dealing with its neighbors.

ASEAN members have traditionally had a policy of "constructive engagement" for dealing with other nations. This means they have always opposed sanctions against countries, even if they fiercely disagree with them.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday the APEC summit could have achieved a better result if U.S. President Bill Clinton had been present.

"It would have gone differently. It is always better to have the occupant of the most powerful political position in the world around the table," Howard told reporters at the end of the sixth APEC leaders meeting here.

Howard, however, was quick to point out he was not criticizing Gore, adding he understood the reasons for Clinton's absence.

"It would always be a help to have the president of the United States present. No doubt about that but I think he had reasons for not coming which I understood," the Australian premier said.

Howard also said Gore's remarks on the Malaysian government had no impact during the leaders discussion which focused on the Asian financial crisis on the social and political life of the people in the region.