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| Tuesday, 23 November 2004 |
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Asia-Pacific leaders talk tough on terror, duck trade SANTIAGO, Monday (AFP,Reuters) Leaders of the Asia-Pacific axis took up a cudgel against terrorism and North Korea's nuclear weapons program at a summit in Chile, but they ducked a radical new plan for region-wide free trade. US President George Bush's "war on terror" engulfed the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's weekend talks in Santiago. But the leaders' rhetoric soared beyond achievements listed in a final declaration Sunday, particularly on the economy, the founding agenda for the 15-year-old grouping, which accounts for nearly half of world trade. The written statement: Called for all APEC members to ratify anti-terrorist conventions so as to demonstrate "unmistakable resolve to collectively confront the threat of terrorism and its disastrous effects." Promised to keep a close tab on existing commitments to "eliminate the danger posed by proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related items." Skirted a business leaders' proposal to study setting up a regional free trade agreement, saying they "welcomed" it but committing the leaders to nothing. Vowed to spur negotiations for a global free-trade deal through the World Trade Organization. "We welcomed the new momentum acquired by the Doha Development Agenda negotiations," the APEC leaders said in a final communique. "We pledged to provide leadership to continuing this momentum." The final declaration also called for "substantially greater market access and fewer distortions" in the controversial area of agriculture, which is heavily subsidized in industrial nations such as those of the European Union, Japan and the United States. Leaders also promised to consider standardizing bilateral free-trade pacts proliferating across the world's most economically dynamic region. They pledged cooperation to fight terrorism and corruption. The sagging dollar and U.S. trade and budget deficits, together with the issues of North Korea and AIDS, were discussed during the summit. |
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