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.