Anti-terror agenda may overshadow APEC meet

By Amit Baruah

SHANGHAI, OCT. 16. Anti-terrorist coalition-building threatens to derail the economic agenda at the Ninth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' meeting, which is being seen as the single-most important international summit conference hosted by modern China.

The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, who will be here over the weekend for what will be the largest gathering of world leaders since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, will naturally be keen to shore up his anti-terrorist agenda in the presence of top world leaders.

Prior to the terrorist attacks in the U.S., it was hoped that the 21-nation APEC grouping, which brings together China, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia, among others, would use the Ministerial Meeting, beginning tomorrow, and the Leaders' summit over the weekend, to provide fresh impetus to flagging economies.

Now, while what is being projected as a global economic slowdown will be discussed, it is apparent that America, which is leading the battle against terrorism in Afghanistan, will have other things on its mind.

A draft anti-terrorism declaration has been circulated even as the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), who were discussing issues relating to free trade and investment, ended their deliberations a day ahead of schedule.

According to the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, Mr. Wang Guangya, APEC member economies will fine-tune a statement on reaffirming their commitment to the Bogor (Indonesia) goals, whose objective is free trade and investment for developed countries by 2010 and for the rest by 2020.

Separately, Ms. Zhang Qiyue, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, who took the view that the anti- terrorist agenda would not overshadow the APEC deliberations, said APEC Ministers would discuss the issue at a breakfast meeting on Thursday.

``To discuss anti-terrorism issues is the common wish of all member economies, not just the desire of the United States,'' she said. ``But, we won't change APEC's role as an economic forum since the main objective of APEC is to promote economic cooperation,'' Ms. Zhang added.

The fact that a draft anti-terrorism declaration is being discussed, and will be possibly issued at the end of the meeting, is a first for the APEC forum, which has in the past concentrated on trade and investment issues.

The ``new agenda'' could face problems from Indonesia and Malaysia, which have called for an end to American military strikes against Afghanistan. For his part, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who will be in Shanghai later this week, has taken a strong stand against Osama bin Laden and his associates.

The Indonesian President, Ms. Megawati Sukarnoputri, criticised the U.S. sharply on Sunday, indicating that she was unhappy with the unilateralist approach taken by Washington in its attacks on Washington.

Dr. Mahathir, particularly, is known to speak his mind and he will, perhaps, use the APEC Forum to project his own point of view - while condemning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - he is also opposed to the reaction from the U.S.

On the economic front, APEC is expected to issue a call for a new round of trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Here, too, Malaysian officials in the past have expressed concerns about the launch of a new round, and Kuala Lumpur's position on the issue will be closely watched.

In a related development, a senior Japanese official, Mr. Kojiro Shiojri, said one of the main objectives of APEC was to strengthen economies of member nations. ``Most APEC member economies, including Japan, are facing a difficult economic situation... .that's why the topic of combating (an) economic slowdown has been picked up at APEC meetings this year,'' he said.

Given the fact that the sidelines of the APEC forum deliberations will see meetings between Mr. Bush and his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Jiang Zemin, and the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, the possibility of these discussions being highlighted is very likely.

And, there is little doubt, that a credible, solid ``coalition'' against terrorism will be a major shot-in-the-arm for the U.S. A ``strong'' statement from China, U.S., Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, against terrorism will definitely be seen as a major success at APEC by Washington.

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