U.S. Dept of State - IIP: The United States and APEC

Transcript: USTR Zoellick to Reporters on Malaysia, WTO, APEC
(Cites Malaysian support for U.S. response to terrorists)
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says the United States is pleased with Malaysian support for its response to terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
"We respect that a country like Malaysia has internal challenges and tensions it must deal with, and therefore the help that we get is all that much more meaningful," Zoellick said at an October 15 press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Zoellick stopped in Singapore and Malaysia on his way to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' and ministers' meetings scheduled for October 17-21 in Shanghai.
He reiterated U.S. support for holding the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade ministers' meeting as scheduled in November, but cited security concerns about holding it in Doha, Qatar.
"There are issues in the region that are beyond anybody's control, and those are some of the issues that they and others will have to weigh as we decide what exactly to do," Zoellick said.
He questioned assertions that the Malaysian government strongly opposes launch of a WTO round. The Malaysians indicated willingness to work on launching a round that is focused on opening market access, he said.
Zoellick said he expected the APEC meetings to devote attention to terrorism as well as economic and trade issues.
(Note: In the transcript "billion" equals 1,000 million.)
Following is the transcript of the press conference:
(begin transcript)

AMBASSADOR ROBERT ZOELLICK U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE PRESS CONFERENCE
Renaissance Hotel, Kuala Lumpur Monday, October 15, 2001 -- 6:00 p.m.

AMBASSADOR ZOELLICK: I'm very pleased to be here with all of you today. As I mentioned to the Prime Minister and the other officials with whom I had a chance to meet, I am pleased to have this opportunity to return to Malaysia. I have enjoyed my prior visits over the years, both when I was in government before and as a private individual. I mentioned to the Prime Minister that I share a special coincidence with Malaysia because when I was first studying economic development -- now some 30 years ago -- my economics professor used ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] as a series of comparative cases, so I had the opportunity to look at Malaysia's development compared with Indonesia and other countries of ASEAN. This was, I think, in 1971 or 1972. And partly because of that, I have had the pleasure of observing the process of economic development in the region, and in Malaysia in particular, over the course of a number of decades, and as I told him, I am continually struck by the impressive progress that has been made.
I also started all my meetings, particularly my meeting with the Prime Minister, by thanking him and the Government for the cooperation and support that they have shown my country after September 11th. We know, and I certainly know from my familiarity with this region, that this is a difficult circumstance for Malaysia to be in, and so we are very appreciative of the support that has been shown. A number of us were very impressed that the Prime Minister made the special demonstration of his sympathy by coming to our Embassy to sign the condolence book. As you probably know, the Prime Minister also sent a very long and thoughtful letter to President Bush with his ideas about the circumstances of terrorism and what has grown from that. The President and the Prime Minister had an opportunity to talk on the phone, and as I mentioned to the Prime Minister, the President is looking forward to having an opportunity to talk with Prime Minister Mahathir about those items at greater length when they are together in Shanghai. And they have a meeting scheduled.
I was also very fortunate to be able to have a chance to talk with the Prime Minister about a number of these topics myself. He is obviously a person that brings a rich experience to these tasks. I told him that we appreciate the leadership that he has shown in trying times. As President Bush has said, this is a fight against terror, not a war against Islam. And others who try to manipulate that to the contrary are doing a disservice to those who are the victims of terror and also to Islam. I mentioned to the Prime Minister that, in my view, Malaysia was a model. It is a force for regional stability, both in political and economic terms. It is certainly an Islamic country. It is also an Islamic country that provides leadership and has a role as a model because it has developed a model of economic development that has demonstrated tolerance, a multiethnic society, a country that has a range of products in the international economy from primary products to those of a knowledge economy. It has been a success story.
Since my responsibility is primarily in the trade field, I had an opportunity to talk about that subject. I was pleased that I could have the meetings I did here because Malaysia is an important trading partner of the United States. I discussed this, briefly with the Prime Minister but primarily with my counterpart, Minister Rafidah [Minister of Trade Rafidah binti Aziz]. As most of you probably know, the United States is Malaysia's largest export market. We have about $30 billion in trade with Malaysia. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Malaysia. And again, Malaysia is to us an example of a very globalized economy because, as you may know, Malaysia's trade is in excess of 200 percent of its GDP [gross domestic product], which is certainly a sign of an economy that is well integrated into the global system.
With Minister Rafidah we had a chance to review the international economic scene, economic developments in the region and also globally, and then we talked about our common agendas in the bilateral area, the regional area -- which includes both ASEAN and APEC; we are both headed off tomorrow morning to the APEC ministerial in Shanghai -- and also the global economy, focusing particularly on the launch of the new WTO round. And since I just came from the informal ministerial in Singapore, we talked a little about my impressions of that meeting and what I thought were the common interests. So, in sum, this was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet with the Prime Minister and with the Foreign Minister and Minister Rafidah to listen and to learn. To get a sense of their perspectives on the political issues, the economic issues, as well as the security topics. So with that, I would be pleased to take any of your questions.
QUESTION: Hi, my name is Nurzin. I'm from NTV-7, the local media here. My question is, right now the U.S. is accused of maintaining a double standard and hypocrisy, especially because it lifted economic sanctions and technology transfers from Pakistan and India immediately after the two countries allowed the use of their airspace, when initially in 1998 the technology and economic sanctions were applied because the two countries at that moment did not adhere to America's nuclear proliferation [standards]. And now, the United States is taking military action against Afghanistan and also justifying this as a response to counter-terrorism, and categorizing countries that do not cooperate as rogues. Now do you think this is a bit unfair? It is rather difficult apparently not to be for America when America is attempting unilaterally to create and apply sanctions on those who do not adhere to the American definition of terrorism.
ZOELLICK: There are a number of questions imbedded in there so let me try to take a few of the pieces. On September 11, my country was attacked by terrorists that killed over 5,000 people. But the attack was not only on my country because, as you probably know, there were individuals from over 60 countries who died in that attack. And as one of my counterparts pointed out again today, about 500 of those people were Muslims. So the attack that the United States suffered was an attack on civilization. It was an attack on tolerance. It was an attack on things that I know Malaysians, as well as Americans, believe in.
Now, as for the response -- I will just say that I was touched personally in the days after September 11th by the responses that I received from all over the world -- from Asia, from Latin America, from Europe, from Africa, from the Caribbean countries -- of people from inside and outside of government who felt the tremendous pain of that attack. So I think it is entirely appropriate that we and others together respond to that. Now, as President Bush has pointed out, there are different ways in which countries can provide support. We respect that countries have various constraints. We are very pleased with Pakistan's support. We're also pleased with the support of our allies around the world. We're very pleased with the support we have received from Malaysia. We respect that a country like Malaysia has internal challenges and tensions it must deal with, and therefore the help that we get is all that much more meaningful.
As for the question of sanctions, I will point out that I was in India in August at which point I was talking with Prime Minister Vajpayee and others about the process of lifting sanctions. So the process of lifting sanctions on India was actually -- and this was public knowledge -- well on its way before that, in part because the Bush Administration has taken a different stance towards those issues and those of regional stability than our predecessors had. As for Pakistan and the lifting of sanctions with Pakistan, frankly, we think that Mr. Musharaff has taken very difficult decisions. I have met with his Trade and Commerce Minister because, here again, we have a common cause in terms of trying to deal with some of the internal problems of hopelessness and despair that fuel these types of groups.
I do not believe that it is a justification for terrorism and murdering innocent people, but we need to acknowledge that if we are going to deal with this issue over the long term we also have to deal with the economic and political components. And that is what the United States has been seeking to do, in combination with partners around the world.
Q: My name is Azeman Said, also from NTV-7. I believe this morning that you met the Foreign Minister and he has expressed concern about the way that the anthrax case has been reported. In his words, he was concerned about speculative, unconfirmed reports. And I believe he has expressed this to you. What is your reaction to this concern?
ZOELLICK: I think in our discussion of all these incidents, again, we have been appreciative of the work that we are trying to do with Malaysia and with other countries around the world to pin down these serious questions. Obviously, the use of biological weapons of terror is of concern to all of us. I noticed in the International Herald Tribune on the way here that the Malaysian Government promptly pointed out that this was a dreadful turn of events. I think that is an excellent description. We have to get to the bottom of it. There are various reports of where these things may or may not have come from. I think together we have a common interest in not letting people using disease to kill innocent people.
Again, I can't underscore enough this is something that -- as I talked about with all my Malaysian colleagues -- Malaysia has known terror in its history. It has dealt with these issues. It has dealt with them in a combination of security, economic and political dimensions. So the people of this country know what a horrible thing this is. And to use an airplane to kill thousands of innocent people, to send biological weapons of terror, these are terrible things. And I have not met any person from a civilized country that does not share a sense that these are things we have to try to root out together. And I certainly did not come away from any of my meetings today with a sense that our Malaysian colleagues did not share that interest.
Q: Channel News Asia. Do you accept the Foreign Minister's explanation that the bacteria did not originate in Malaysia?
ZOELLICK: I am afraid that we did not discuss that. So I do not know exactly what the Foreign Minister said in a public event. We had an excellent discussion about the whole range of issues of terror and security, as well as the economic dimensions, so we did not get in to that topic. And, frankly, I do not know where the biological issue came from. I have been in meetings all day. I do not know if there have been additional discoveries. I do feel that probably all of us want to try to learn as much as we can, so we can stop it. Which would strike me as a reasonable thing to do, particularly if you ever received one of the letters.
Q: My name is Chiguv from the French News Agency. This is a two-shot question. One is, what issues would the U.S. like to see dominating in the APEC meeting in Shanghai? And the other question is the Doha upcoming meeting, some WTO officials are saying that it should be postponed. What is your explanation? Thank you.
ZOELLICK: Well, let me take the second one first. I do not know of anybody who is suggesting that the Doha meeting should be postponed. In fact, quite to the contrary, I was with 21 other Trade Ministers in Singapore over the weekend, and we all agreed that the Meeting needs to go forward, on the dates that have been established because all of us believe that one important component of the response to these international events, plus the international economic slowdown, is to try to launch a new global round: to help re-establish confidence in international systems; as a political signal of our commitment to openness and the values associated with it; and also to deal with the long-term efforts to improve the liberalization of our economies. So we were all in agreement on that.
We were also in agreement that the Qatari government has done a fantastic job in its preparations for that meeting, and that it is taking every step that it can in terms of security. We also discussed and recognized that there is uncertainty related to the hosting of that meeting, in part simply because of the region. We just do not know what is going to happen over the next few weeks, so our Qatari colleague said that he would go back and talk about that with his Cabinet colleagues. Various ministers expressed their views, but the common view was that we need to go forward with this Ministerial, in one location or the other.
Now, as for the APEC meeting, I think it is an excellent development that APEC will be meeting in Shanghai. I was part of the start of APEC in the first meeting in Canberra in 1989. When I was serving at the State Department I was pleased -- I think it was in '91 or '92 -- that we worked together with the Korean government, the host that year, to bring the PRC [China], Taiwan and Hong Kong into APEC. So I was delighted in June of this year when I was able to attend an APEC ministerial, and now we will attend an APEC meeting that will be just a month or so before China and Taiwan will be coming into the WTO after a 15-year effort. So I think one element of the focus of the meeting will be China's and Taiwan's accession to the WTO.
I think another focus will be the subject that we just discussed in Singapore, which is the need to launch the global round. I was again impressed when I was in Shanghai in June about the strength of China's support for launching a global trade negotiation and the effect that that had on all the countries in the region.
Third, I expect that there will be discussion of some aspects related to the Asia-Pacific region. There's a Shanghai document that the APEC countries have been working on that will focus on common interests in transparency and trade facilitation, and some other topics. And then I am certain that in the course of these discussions at the Leaders' level that they will focus on the most important issue of the day, which is dealing with the threat of terrorism.
Q: Melissa Goh, from Channel News Asia. Mr. Ambassador, Dr. Mahathir has condemned the September 11 attacks, but has also lashed out against U.S. retaliation on Afghanistan. In your view will this jeopardize existing trade ties with Malaysia? And also what is your outlook of bilateral trade, please?
ZOELLICK: The answer is no. Frankly, I think our trade ties are based on our close economic relationship and, as I mentioned, Malaysia is a very good partner of the United States, and I hope the United States is a good partner for Malaysia in terms of both investment and trade. So I do not believe that would be affected in any event.
But frankly, as I said in my opening remarks and as I mentioned to the Prime Minister, we are grateful for the support we get. We understand that the Government of Malaysia faces tensions here; there is no doubt when you read the newspapers about the problems that he has to manage. And the support that we have received in a number of areas, if anything, strengthens the nature of these ties and relations. So, I do not, frankly, see anything of the negative variety in that. As for differences of views, these are understandable. President Bush has talked about the mission we have, and why we are going forward. There are other countries taking part in that. As I told the Prime Minister today, he brings a rich experience to this. I think he has been sympathetic to the attack on life in the United States, and we will work on this together and we will learn from it together.
Q: Ambassador, can you just clarify that the Doha meeting as of now is going on and will go on?
ZOELLICK: The plans and preparations are for it still to go on. But the point that a number of us made is that we live in an uncertain world, and it changes day by day. We get new reports about threats. And these are things that you obviously have to take into account. In my case, I am not only responsible for myself, but I am also responsible for my staff going. So, again, I have been impressed by the security efforts the Qataris have taken. There are issues in the region that are beyond anybody's control, and those are some of the issues that they and others will have to weigh as we decide what exactly to do.
Q: Zainuddin, Channel News Asia: Do you have any concern that the war in Afghanistan may spiral out of control?
ZOELLICK: Well, wars are always dangerous things. I think that there is no doubt about that. But it is hard for me, having seen the destruction that was wreaked on September 11th, to say that things have not already spun out of control, in the sense that killing five to six thousand innocent people certainly strikes me as being out of control. So, as President Bush made clear, we have identified the people who perpetrated this, we have identified the network that is involved, and we believe that this network must be stopped. We have warned the governments who have been sponsoring or supporting or harboring those people that they cannot permit this to go forward. We gave them time and asked them to act. They did not. And so by supporting people who murder innocent women and children, they are part of that murder. And so they will pay a price as we try to stop this terrorism.
I will also say, as I said to the Prime Minister, that because we believe that the effort to root out terrorism will be one that takes a longer time, and it will certainly not be easy, that we all have the responsibility to try to help those countries who have to deal with some of the fall-out, and that includes economically. And that is one reason why I have been very committed in trying to launch this global trade round because you combine the uncertainties of the international economy due to terrorism with the slowdown, and this will be particularly tough on developing nations. That is one reason we need to find ways to try to help those nations, in part through trade and through other economic arrangements.
Q: Ambassador, Douglas Wong from the Financial Times. Malaysia is one of the strongest opponents of the new global trade round. In your discussion with Mahathir and Mrs. Rafidah, did you get any sense in some change in position, that they might support the launching of this Round?
ZOELLICK: I think your first characterization is inaccurate. Again, I read the newspaper reports on my way in about what Minister Rafidah said. What I have taken Minister Rafidah to have emphasized is that she believes that a new global negotiation should focus on key market access topics -- particularly in agriculture, manufacturing, services. Frankly, that is the United States' preference as well. So in that sense we have a shared agenda. I think what we both talked about is that we both recognize that to bring 140 other countries around -- since there are 142 total -- we have to consider how we deal with some of these other issues, the issues that the European Union have presented, for example. And so that is what we talked about in Singapore, that is what we talked about with Minister Rafidah. I will let her speak for herself. I found that there was a tone with both the Prime Minister and Trade Minister Rafidah of an understanding of the importance of -- not surprisingly, given Malaysia' position -- of trade and global economy, and I think a willingness to try to work on this issues. Of course, only they can decide what is a satisfactory outcome, and it is not only up to their determination. It will depend on the European Union and Japan and others being forthcoming on the agenda that United States and Malaysia would most seek.
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.