Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region held a summit yesterday to give new impetus to deadlocked trade talks and the fight against bird flu, as police clashes with protesters turned violent.
The 21 APEC leaders and representatives -- including US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao (
As well as appealing for intensive efforts to ensure the success of the Dec. 13-18 WTO talks in Hong Kong, the leaders will address bird flu, terrorism, North Korea and energy security.
As the motorcades of the presidents and prime ministers swept into the high-tech BEXCO exhibition center in Busan, around 10,000 farmers and anti-globalization protesters gathered nearby.
Chanting anti-US slogans and waving colorful banners reading "No APEC, No Bush" and "Terrorist Bush Go Home," the crowd, some armed with metal pipes, long bamboo sticks and bottles, faced off with thousands of riot police ringing the center.
"We want to hurt them and we want them to hurt us," a farmer from just north of the port city said, as he brandished a weighty 3m-long bamboo stick, his face masked with a red handkerchief and his breath smelling of South Korean rice wine.
On two occasions hundreds of hardcore protesters tried to break through a make-shift police barricade of ocean-liner cargo containers to reach bridges over the Suyeong River to reach the APEC meeting, triggering violent clashes and volleys of water cannon loaded with seawater which left several people injured.
APEC countries account for nearly 60 percent of global trade, and the leaders were to issue a statement today calling for compromises on farm subsidies to prevent the so-called Doha round of WTO talks from collapsing.
"Unless progress is made in this area, we cannot make progress in the round as a whole," a draft of the statement states.
"Avoiding or compromising our ambition on this issue would mean we would lower expectations for the round as a whole," the draft continues..
Asia-Pacific nations have become embroiled in an acrimonious war of words with the EU, and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that APEC felt it was up to the EU to make a new offer on agriculture.
"They are basically saying that now the ball is in Europe's court and they are asking for a very active and flexible attitude in negotiations from the Europeans," Ban said after the first session of talks.
He said the group's leaders would sign off on the "very strong message" today that the Hong Kong WTO meeting cannot be allowed to fail. But calls by Australia and Canada to harden the statement were rebuffed, Ban said.
The EU has refused to match a US offer on cutting farm subsidies, instead making a "bottom line" offer earlier this month to cut the bloc's overall tariff rate from 23 percent to 12 percent.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has this week rebuffed APEC pressure and insisted Europe would not be making a new offer.
Bird flu is also an urgent topic which will be addressed today.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard flagged a new Canberra initiative in a speech here and made thinly-veiled criticism of Thailand, China and Vietnam for being slow to report the extent of outbreaks in 2003 and last year.
Howard stressed the importance of preparing for a pandemic and "of putting aside any sense of national pride or self-consciousness about any outbreak."
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS