Mahathir skeptical about APEC's commitment

Mahathir skeptical about APEC's commitment

By Takehiko Kajita

TOKYO (Kyodo): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
remains skeptical of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum's commitment to sweeping trade liberalization by the year
2020, according to a veteran Japanese legislator.

"Mr. Mahathir told me that he thinks it would be unacceptable
if APEC tried to force a decision on its members in a
comprehensive manner," Masajuro Shiokawa, chairman of the
Executive Council of Japan's largest ruling coalition partner,
the Liberal Democratic Party, said in an interview with Kyodo
News Service.

Shiokawa met Mahathir at his private residence in Kuala Lumpur
on Sunday night as a special envoy of Prime Minister Tomiichi
Murayama. He had been sent to try to persuade the Malaysian
leader to attend a summit of APEC's top leaders set for Nov. 19
in Osaka.

Malaysia's cabinet decided Wednesday that Mahathir will
participate in the APEC summit, to be held after a meeting of
foreign and trade ministers Nov. 16-17.

"Opinions were divided among cabinet members...But Mr.
Mahathir must have made his mind up when I called on him," said
Shiokawa, who is known for his close personal ties with the
outspoken Malaysian premier.

Shiokawa, who heads the Japan-Malaysia Association, a
government-affiliated organization to promote friendship between
the two countries, also quoted Mahathir as saying APEC should
take into account each member's sensitive trade areas when it
seeks free and open trade and investment.

The 18-member APEC decided at last year's summit in Bogor,
Indonesia, to set a trade-freeing deadline in the region -- 2010
for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.

Mahathir insisted at the time on attaching Malaysia's
reservations about the decision in an appendix to the so-called
"Bogor Declaration."

The Malaysian leader had been noncommittal over whether he
would take part in this year's APEC summit to be hosted by
Murayama, apparently because of Japan's reluctance to join the
proposed East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC).

Mahathir floated the original idea of launching the EAEC in
December 1990. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) made it a joint proposal in October 1991.

While brushing aside speculation the EAEC will evolve into a
closed regional trade bloc, Mahathir reiterated his desire to
have Japan join the proposed body, Shiokawa said.

Japan has been reluctant over the project for fear of
antagonizing the United States, which opposes any regional
economic group from which it could be locked out.

The Malaysian cabinet's decision on Mahathir's participation
in the APEC summit in Osaka was partly due to his Malaysia trip
and partly due to Tokyo's consultative approach in its
preparation for the Osaka talks, Shiokawa said.

In announcing Mahathir's participation, Malaysia's
International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said
Wednesday the U.S. and Indonesia made decisions on APEC talks
when hosting the forums in 1993 and last year respectively
without much consultation with other members.

Mahathir boycotted the inaugural APEC summit in Seattle in
protest at what he sees as Washington's attempts to dominate and
institutionalize APEC.

But he attended the Bogor meeting last year to keep on good
terms with Indonesia and other ASEAN members.

Shiokawa said Mahathir's pro-Japan policy remains unchanged
despite Japan's negative reaction to his cherished EAEC
initiative.

"It may be true the gap between Mr. Mahathir's great
expectations of Japan and Japan's response to them has widened a
bit. But his stance on Japan has not changed at all," he noted.

Shiokawa said he admires the way Mahathir "explicitly says
what he believes is right."

"So I want him to state his opinions in his usual style at the
summit," he said.

APEC comprises Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong,
Japan, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, South Korea,
Taiwan, the U.S. and six of the seven ASEAN members -- Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.