Transcript: U.S. Coordinator for APEC Reports Unity in Shanghai
(Greenwood says officials eager to fight terrorism)The U.S. coordinator for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) says the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States have produced a clear sense of unity within the organization as it launches a week of high-level meetings that will culminate in a leaders' meeting October 20-21 in Shanghai.
"Everybody's coming together quite well," Ambassador Lawrence Greenwood said in an October 16 interview with the Associated Press.
"There's a strong sense of shared sacrifice and shared pain that comes with the attack, of course -- in a very real sense, since nationals from 16 out of the 21 APEC economies perished in the attacks," he said.
Leaders are expected to issue a joint statement on terrorism at the close of their talks, and Greenwood reported that members have made clear their desire to play "an important, significant role in the antiterrorist effort."
Asked whether Indonesia and Malaysia will limit their cooperation due to domestic pressures, Greenwood said: "I don't want to speak to their domestic political problems because there are people who know much more about that than I. But certainly what we've seen from the officials who are here has been a strong sense of support."
He also credited China's stewardship of the APEC process with the speedy conclusion of the September 15 senior officials' meeting in Shanghai. "I think one of the reasons for [the fast results] is that the Chinese chair is extremely well organized, very hard-driving and just did [its] homework and made sure that we had resolved most of our issues before we actually got there."
Following is a transcript of Greenwood's interview with the Associated Press:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office Of the Spokesman
October 16, 2001Press Briefing by Ambassador Lawrence Greenwood
U.S. Coordinator for APEC
to The Associated PressINTERVIEWER: Why did you finish in one day? Was everybody in such great agreement or you ran out of things to talk about, or what?
AMB. GREENWOOD: This is the fourth of a series of Senior Officials meetings to take place in the year, and this is the session in which we really are wrapping up the main work of the organization for the year. We're sending on reports to ministers, and while it can take some time if there've been major disagreements, in fact we had basically worked out our disagreements before we came to the table. I think one of the reasons for it is just that the Chinese chair is extremely well organized, very hard driving and just did their homework and made sure that we had resolved most of our issues before we actually got there. It was just that there wasn't so much work that needed to be done right then. Most of the work right now that's taking place has to do with a the drafting of the main products for the meeting itself, which is the Leaders' Declaration, the Shanghai Accord, the Counter-terrorism Statement, and then the ministerial statement that comes to the ministers. So working on that has been our main work.
INTERVIEWER: I had heard that the Shanghai Accord was an annex that may or may not result from this meeting, but you expect it to?
AMB. GREENWOOD: Everything is "may or may not," because first of all our ministers have to say "yes" and then the leaders have to say "yes." But I'm pretty confident that it will go forward.
INTERVIEWER: Another question that was tangential but of great interest, which is whether the United States favors moving the venue for the Doha meeting to Singapore or somewhere else?
AMB. GREENWOOD: I'm just not involved in that process at all and don't have any views on it.
INTERVIEWER: Just curious.
AMB. GREENWOOD: So am I.
INTERVIEWER: So do you expect any resistance to efforts to strengthen the international coalition against terrorism?
AMB. GREENWOOD: No, and in fact just the opposite. Everybody's coming together quite well. It's very strong. A sense of unity within APEC that they want -- both as individual economies as well as APEC as an institution -- they wanted to play an important, significant role in the antiterrorist effort. There's a strong sense of shared sacrifice and shared pain that comes with the attack, of course, in the very real sense, since nationals from 16 out of the 21 APEC economies perished in the attacks. Also because in a sense it was an attack on the very principals -- human dignity, the importance of more integration of our societies -- that lie at the heart of APEC. So it is really quite moving to see how this attack has brought us together around world. You particularly see it here, and it is a very diverse region and it's diverse in terms of culture, languages, level of development, and even forms of government, but despite that there is a very strong sense of unity and cooperation. Just the kind of spirit of cooperation and unity that was envisioned at the very first Leaders' Meeting back in Blake Island in 1993.
INTERVIEWER: So you believe that say, Megawatti and Mahatir will be able to balance the domestic pressures that they face with the need to join forces with the rest of APEC in making a common statement?
AMB. GREENWOOD: Yes. I don't want to speak to their domestic political problems because there are people who know much more about that than I. But certainly what we've seen from the officials who are here has been a strong sense of support.
INTERVIEWER: I like what you said about "it takes a tragedy for people to realize what is important to them."
AMB. GREENWOOD: Both in personal life and collectively.
INTERVIEWER: That's an interesting way of putting it. What do you hope the final statement that is released over the weekend will say about the fight against terrorism?
AMB. GREENWOOD: What we would hope for would be a strong condemnation of the attack, a strong statement of support and cooperation to work to prevent further terrorist attacks, and a concerted effort to put a halt to terrorism over the medium- and long-term as well, using and enhancing the use of tools that we have in APEC to do that.
INTERVIEWER: Have you gotten any sense at all from your hosts that they are disappointed or in some way frustrated by the fact that they have to make allowances for this entire broad, and so important issue, at a time when they had hoped to showcase their own economic achievements and their imminent entry into the World Trade Organization?
AMB. GREENWOOD: I certainly have no sense of that at all. First of all, of course, the attacks make economic recovery in the region and any bright star even more noticeable and attractive and so the fact that the Chinese economy is one of the few that is actually moving forward in a relatively robust way, is all the more remarkable. And so I don't have a sense at all that this is a frustration or a problem with China. Rather, they've taken -- I was actually in China when the attack occurred, in Beijing, and saw senior Chinese officials the very next day, and from the very start there were strong statements of support. In APEC they knew immediately that this was going to have an impact on the APEC agenda and on the APEC meetings. They had no problem with that, and in fact moved in a very positive, constructive way from the very beginning.
INTERVIEWER: You said you're very optimistic about the chances for launching a new WTO round. Based on what you've seen here, you feel as if there's...
AMB. GREENWOOD: Well, more optimistic. I'm not sure "very optimistic" is the right word. But certainly more optimistic than we were even months ago. I think there's been a lot of progress made. The meetings in Singapore seem to have gone well. It's not my area directly, but it seems to have gone well. What we got at the Senior Officials Meeting from that meeting in Singapore was positive, so yes, I'm optimistic.
INTERVIEWER: What specifically does APEC plan to address in terms of ways to help revitalize the regional economy?
AMB. GREENWOOD: A couple of things. One is a call for pro-growth policies to get growth going again, to continue the progress of the process of structural reform. Two, of course, a call for the new round, and three, a re-invigoration of APEC as an institution to better deliver reform policies and growth in the region through a more concerted effort in implementation. And in that regard, we've identified some specific areas, which will be announced this weekend, for moving forward and to begin the effort and intensifying the efforts in implementation. We are going to be doing more in the Eco-Tech area to build capacity as an important implementation tool, and also doing more to improve the process of unilateral liberalization through what we call individual action plans and making those a more rigorous process. Those are some of the ideas that are out there and there will be some more specific areas that will be announced on the weekend.
INTERVIEWER: When I listened to Mr. Wang last night he repeated several times that APEC needed to be more vigorous, more dynamic. Is there a shared sense of a need for a fresh start?
AMB. GREENWOOD: I think there is. There is a realization that the public image of APEC is that it has lost some of its vigor. It's important that we do -- I think part of that has to do with the fact that the dates that we set for ourselves for free trade and investment in the region are not as far away as they were when we set them 7 or 8 years ago. So, it's time to get down to business.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Return to The United States and APEC.Return to IIP Home Page.