[asia-apec 911] NZ Herald on APEC

[Gatt Watchdog]

Weekend Herald November 21-22 1998, Auckland, New Zealand

Stances of a stateswoman

This week's Apec summit was Jenny Shipley's first big test on the 
international diplomatic circuit.  How did she go?

John Armstrong, Political Editor in Kuala Lumpur

"A rose among thorns," cooed one Kuala Lumpur newspaper on Thursday, 
having observed Jenny Shipley glide around the bizarrely-named Cyberview 
Lodge with other leaders as Apec sauntered to a close.

But Jenny Shipley proved she could be as thorny as the rest of them.  
One phrase - "megaphone diplomacy" - turned what otherwise would have 
been a pretty low-key first outing into a qualified success, at least in 
diplomatic terms.

It immediately boosted the profile of the Prime Minister way above 
tiresome "only-woman-at-the-summit" cliches.

The straight-talking, as it often does, could have got her into real 
trouble.  It did back home.  But her intervention went down a treat with 
Asian colleagues sick of American bullying.  And the Americans did not 
really care.

Going into her first big international assignment, she did even more 
homework than her usual satchel-loads before she got on the plane to 
Malaysia.

She needed to.  It is not her style not to make a contribution, even 
though the temptation might have been to sit back and absorb the 
dynamics, rather than intervene in highly-charged debates.

And New Zealand is the incoming chair of Apec.  Other countries were 
looking for a steer for where it plans to take things leading up to the 
Auckland summit next September.

She will have to pause for breath on trade liberalisation.  Despite her 
unstinting passion for more speed, Apec is stalled on that front.  The 
fiasco over fast-track tariff cuts for fish and forestry - which 
degenerated into a test of will between Japan and ardent free-traders 
like New Zealand - was over before she had even got off the plane.

Mrs Shipley will have to live with her disappointment on the trade 
liberalisation front, but she managed to squeeze on to the winning side 
of arguments about the Anwar Ibrahim case.

It was the old dilemma.  How do you satisfy domestic pressure to talk 
tough on human rights without upsetting a long-standing ally?  Or be 
seen to be interfering in a host country's domestic politics?  Or risk 
allowing the argument to overshadow what is an economic forum faced with 
an unprecedented economic crisis?

Her approach was to quarantine the issue on the presumption that one can 
talk honestly to a "good friend", as she insists she did during her 
Tuesday morning bilateral with Dr Mahathir, Malaysia's crusty prime 
minister.  She says the Anwar case took up most of the half-hour 
meeting.

But Mrs Shipley's moderate ticking-off of Dr Mahathir was no match for 
the potent symbolism of a horde of foreign ministers, including 
Australia's, trotting off to see Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah.

The possibility of such a visit from New Zealand's foreign minister was 
dismissed by Don McKinnon as a "token gesture".  That left Mrs Shipley 
in the lurch.  New Zealand also looked to be doing the Malaysians 
bidding when she accused Al Gore of engaging in "megaphone diplomacy".

But the sentiment shifted rapidly against the vice-president.  She 
struck a chord with other leaders already wondering about the United 
States' commitment to Apec, given Bill Clinton's absence and suspicions 
that Gore's remarks in favour of Anwar might have more to do with the 
next presidential election than helping a jaied Malaysian politician.

Gore was also coming under criticism from American big-wigs in Kuala 
Lumpur.  Anwar's supporters, too, decried his intervention, fearing it 
would only help rally support nationwide for the embattled Dr Mahathir.

Mrs Shipley must now pray that her patience with Dr Mahathir is not 
repaid with a post-summit crackdown on dissent on the streets of Kuala 
Lumpur.



What Apec really stands for

We've been told that Apec is short for Asia-Pacific Economic 
Co-operation. Co-operation?  Thay've got to be joking.  Here's what the 
acronym really stands for:

A is for Aggravation.  Lots of it.  Standing for hours in 32-degree heat 
and 90 per cent humidity knowing nothing is going to happen.

Being herded like cattle from one photo-opportunity to the next.

Spin doctors telling you how well things are going when they are 
obviously falling apart.

Taxi drivers suddenly losing their sense of direction after years of 
driving around Kuala Lumpur.

Being stuck in another traffic jam as another motorcade delivers another 
leader to another slap-up dinner.

Hotel owners hiking their room rates.  Hotel lifts reserved for VIPs so 
they do not have to wait a few moments like the rest of mankind.  

Other people's cellphones.  Especially ones with silly rings.  And 
security checks, security checks and more security checks.

P is for Pressing the Flesh.  Hour after hour, processions of leaders, 
ministers and officials sweep along corridors from meeting to meeting, 
politely shaking hands with old enemies and then telling their media 
entourage outrageous exaggerations about what was said behind closed 
doors.

P is also for Press Conferences.  You can guarantee you'll miss the one 
where someone actually says something.

P is also for Protest.  For once, there was something to protest about.  
But the riots everyone expected never materialised - much to the 
disappointment of the media.

E is for Embarrassment.  This year's Egg on Your Face Award goes to Al 
Gore.  America's Veep got just about everyone's back up with his lavish 
praise of Malaysia's opposition forces.  He earned the wrath of American 
business and former American envoys in Kuala Lumpur for the summit.

Even the people he was supposed to be helping -  Anwar Ibrahim's 
supporters - were cursing him.  They feared his remarks would swing 
fiercely nationalistic Malays back behind Dr Mahathir.

Second prize goes to Malaysian television which managed to lose the 
sound feed to the media centre just as Dr Mahathir began to read the 
summit's communique to the world's journalists.  Rich irony, considering 
his underlings had deliberately disrupted satellite transmission of 
television pictures of riots during September's Commonwealth Games.

C is for Communique. And Compromise.  Two naughty, inseparable twins.  
This year's declaration looked as fresh as week-old bread.  And about as 
digestible.  Most of it was drafted weeks ago and then watered down as 
officials haggled over every word, comma and full-stop.  Are the 
politicians really there just to make up the numbers?  Of course they 
are.

And don't forget: Apec also stands for Ageing Politicians Enjoying 
Cocktails.