Clinton calls just-ended Bogor meeting 'historic'
Clinton calls just-ended Bogor meeting 'historic'
JAKARTA (JP): United States President Bill Clinton called the
Bogor declaration a historic one but warned that it should be
followed up by the next meeting of leaders.
"I feel very good about it, this is potentially a very
historic declaration. But next year, if we don't lay down the
blueprint, it is not a good sign.
"If we do lay down the blueprint, that is a good sign. That is
my test," he told a press conference here yesterday after the
conclusion of the Bogor APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.
The president was asked about how the leaders in the meeting
would know that what they had agreed upon today was really going
to happen.
Clinton said the critical question is whether the leaders
themselves are willing to continue to meet personally every year
"even if it is inconvenient for them to do so" to make concrete
progress.
On the question of how cooperation could be forged in a world
where the media outlet was dominated by the "First World", he
said that more and more news is being devoted to foreign policy
that affects the developing world.
"Everyone who is here has a little different understanding
about the Third World," he said pointing to the hundreds of
journalists attending the press conference at the Hilton Hotel.
He said the developing countries would have to be more patient
with their process of learning.
East Timor
In answering a question related to East Timor, Clinton said
that East Timor people should have a greater say over their own
affairs.
"This has been the United States' stand since 1991," he said,
adding that he planned to discuss the issue with President
Soeharto during his state visit today.
Asked why he made a visit to the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta,
Clinton said he went there to see the impressive building and
because Indonesia is a predominantly Moslem country which has a
very vibrant Catholic, Protestant, Hindu and Buddhist heritage.
"In the mosque I was told how these various religions have
come into this country and how they operate today within the
country, together, without undermining or conflicting one with
the other," he said.
Clinton said that he made the visit in order to be able, as
much as possible, to tell the American people and the Western
world that even though the United States has problems with
terrorism coming out of the Middle East "it is not inherently
related to Islam, not to the religion, not to the culture and the
tradition of Islam."
"And Indonesia, I think, made that point very graphically.
It's something that people in America need to know, it's
something people throughout the West need to know."
Education
Asked if international education exchanges are seen as an
investment in the United States, Clinton answered in the
affirmative, adding that it is a very important program.
He acknowledged that this investment has been reduced in
recent years due to the staggering explosion of the U.S. national
debt.
"I will say that most of our major universities, particularly
state universities, are investing much more of their money and
their efforts in trying to recruit students from around the world
and promote student education exchanges.
"What I can do before I make a final judgment is to see what
the total effort is in our country, but we should be doing more
of it. Now I feel very strongly about that."
Asked about how APEC could overcome international politics in
its efforts to achieve global trade liberalization, Clinton said
that he believed that the business of politics is in part to
achieve the maximum opportunity for the positive economic forces
in the world to succeed within each country.
The United States, he said, keeps on thinking about the good
things it has and what is in store in the world and how to
eliminate obstacles to them.
When politics takes over economics, he said, it is very often
because of the country's preoccupation with some other goal,
which is destructive of the human spirit. (hbk)