- Title: THAILAND: THE SECOND AND FINAL DAY OF THE APEC SUMMIT MEETING IN BANGKOK.
- Date: 21st October 2003
- Summary: (W4) BANGKOK, THAILAND (OCTOBER 21, 2003) (HOST POOL) 1. WS/INTERIOR: LEADERS GATHERING FOR READING OF DECLARATION. 0.09 2. SCU/PAN: OF GROUP. 0.22 3. VARIOUS: (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAI PRIME MINISTER THAKSIN SHINAWATRA READING LEADERS' DECLARATION SAYING "We agreed to express our strong support for continuing the work done at Cancun, to move the Doha around towards an ambitious and balanced outcome. We believe that flexibility and political will are urgently needed to re-energise the negotiation process, building on chairman Derbez's text of 13 september 2003." 0.54 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAKSIN SAYING "Transnational terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction pose direct and profound challenges to APEC's vision of free, open and prosperous economies. We agreed to dedicate APEC to the complementary mission of ensuring the security of our people." 1.21 5. VARIOUS: (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAKSIN SAYING "We seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue while addressing all the concerns of the parties including the security concerns raised by the DPRK. We welcome the efforts to address these security concerns. We are committed to the maintenance of peace and stability on the peninsula and support continuation of the six-party talks and look forward to concrete and verifiable progress towards a complete and permanent nuclear weapons free Korean peninsula." 2.06 (W4) BANGKOK, THAILAND (OCTOBER 21, 2003) (REUTERS) 6. WS/INTERIOR: OF PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MALAYSIAN PM MAHATHIR MOHAMAD. 2.08 7. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHATHIR SAYING "I said that the Jewish have got the whole world behind them. So much so that they can defy the United Nations. That means they have become a world power". 2.23 8. MV/INTERIOR: OF PRESSER. 2.26 9. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHATHIR SAYING "We ourselves were very very supportive of the United States, but over time the policies of the United States began to change. They no longer bother about aid, about sending peace corps people to help, and all that. Instead there is a trend towards applying force, especially after the United States became the sole power in this world. They like to apply sanctions, sometimes to threaten military action, even on grounds that are not proven. So now the United States is not very much liked by many countries. You would dispute this, but that is my impression. The thing is, the U.S. should try other means than the use of force". 3.26 10. WS/INTERIOR: OF PRESSER. 3.28 11. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAHATHIR SAYING "There is a fondness among leaders in Australia, Prime Ministers in Australia, to make nasty comments like calling me recalcitrant etc. And John Howard did the same thing repeatedly, even casting aspersions on our judicial systems, as if we do not understand law, we don't understand fair deals and justice. In fact, we do. We had a very good history with our aborigines, for example. We didn't shoot them dead, we didn't commit genocide. So when making criticisms of other people, please look at your own background and temper it with some humility. That will be good for good relations. Otherwise, I have no problems with Australia. Australians are in Malaysia in large numbers and we welcome them". 4.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th November 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVA7YT15CR3PDUYUPZ81E4BAA1AJ
- Story Text: Security, North Korea and trade dominate discussions in the second and final day of the APEC summit.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC)
meeting in Bangkok ended on Tuesday (October 21) with the
21-nations committing strongly to battle security and trade
issues.
The APEC forum effectively backed the U.S. stand of
providing some security guarantees for North Korea in
exchange for proof that it would not seek to develop
nuclear weapons.
As leaders of the 21-member group posed in Thai silk
finery for the ritual group photograph on the final day of
the summit, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra read the
declaration, which began with a call for the revival of
world trade talks.
"We agreed to express our strong support for continuing
the work done at Cancun, to move the Doha around towards an
ambitious and balanced outcome. We believe that flexibility
and political will are urgently needed to re-energise the
negotiation process, building on chairman Derbez's text of
13 september 2003," Shinawatra said.
Leaders also agreed on more ways to tackle terrorism -
specifically by controlling trade in shoulder-fired
missiles, increasing port security, combating terrorist
finance and increasing co-operation between
counter-terrorism bodies.
"Transnational terrorism and the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction pose direct and profound
challenges to APEC's vision of free, open and prosperous
economies. We agreed to dedicate APEC to the complementary
mission of ensuring the security of our people," Thaksin
also read.
At the time, U.S. President George W. Bush had just
announced a shift in U.S. policy to persuade North Korea to
give up its nuclear arms programme and he and South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun had pleaded with Pyongyang to
respond and not do anything to worsen the situation.
The new U.S. initiative aims to provide North Korea
some sort of security guarantee short of the non-aggression
treaty it has demanded in exchange for abandoning efforts
to make nuclear arms.
Bush said he and other U.S. officials had discussed the
new proposals with the other nations involved in the
stalled six-way talks on North Korea -- China, Russia,
Japan and South Korea. Except for North Korea, all were
present at the Bangkok summit.
At the close of the summit, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra read out a statement effectively giving
Washington APEC's unreserved support.
"We seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue while
addressing all the concerns of the parties including the
security concerns raised by the DPRK. We welcome the
efforts to address these security concerns. We are
committed to the maintenance of peace and stability on the
peninsula and support continuation of the six-party talks
and look forward to concrete and verifiable progress
towards a complete and permanent nuclear weapons free
Korean peninsula," Shinawatra said.
The statement on North Korea was only read out and not
included in the formal communiqu in a nod to concerns
expressed by Russia and China that the move could infuriate
Pyongyang.
This year's APEC was also marked by controversy
surrounding comments made by Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir, who attended his last APEC here as he steps
down at the end of the month after 22 years in power, stood
by his comments about Jews in a final press conference.
"I said that the Jewish have got the whole world behind
them. So much so that they can defy the United Nations.
That means they have become a world power," he said.
He went on to comment on recent U.S. foreign policy,
arguing the case for a non-military approach to handling
terrorism.
"We ourselves were very very supportive of the United
States, but over time the policies of the United States
began to change. They no longer bother about aid, about
sending peace corps people to help, and all that. Instead
there is a trend towards applying force, especially after
the United States became the sole power in this world. They
like to apply sanctions, sometimes to threaten military
action, even on grounds that are not proven. So now the
United States is not very much liked by many countries. You
would dispute this, but that is my impression. The thing
is, the U.S. should try other means than the use of force,"
he said. He also responded to comments made by
Australian Prime
Minister John Howard, who recently said he would "maintain
cordiality and nothing more with Dr. Mahathir".
"There is a fondness among leaders in Australia, Prime
Ministers in Australia, to make nasty comments like calling
me recalcitrant etc. And John Howard did the same thing
repeatedly, even casting aspersions on our judicial
systems, as if we do not understand law, we don't
understand fair deals and justice. In fact, we do. We had a
very good history with our aborigines, for example. We
didn't shoot them dead, we didn't commit genocide. So when
making criticisms of other people, please look at your own
background and temper it with some humility. That will be
good for good relations. Otherwise, I have no problems with
Australia. Australians are in Malaysia in large numbers and
we welcome them," he said.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None