A summit of hope for peace

Experts believe the Trump Kim meeting in Singapore tomorrow may see some commitment on denuclearizing Korean peninsula.

A HISTORIC summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was expected to be a success, according to experts, as Kim was likely to offer a vague promise on denuclearisation when they meet in Singapore tomorrow, leaving tough negotiations over implementation for later.

“Kim’s most urgent need is to alleviate the threat of a US preventive military strike and to get at least some of the economic sanctions lifted,” Hawaii-based East West Centre’s senior fellow of research programme Denney Roy told The Nation in an interview via e-mail.

North Korea’s nuclear programme and missile tests over the past few years have brought the secretive communist regime to the brink of a nuclear state, which has given it strong bargaining powers with Washington.

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A summit with the US president is critical for the Pyongyang leader to make his regime secure.

“He also wants to gain international prestige, establish a normal relationship with the US where he is treated as an equal, and make progress towards weakening the US-South Korea security cooperation,” Roy said.

Kim likely wants to get North Korea into a position where both Beijing and Washington are competing with each other to gain influence in Pyongyang by granting favours, he said.

While denuclearisation is the ultimate goal to stabilise the Korean Peninsula, President Trump is likely to hold his cards close to his chest.

“I think that very quickly I’ll know whether or not something good is going to happen,” Trump told reporters in Quebec over the weekend.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has met Kim Jong-un twice, said earlier that the reclusive North Korean leader had indicated the regime was prepared to denuclearise. The top US diplomat refrained from talking about the plan, saying the two leaders would discuss the issue during their summit.

An expert on Korean affairs, Roy said the summit could be called a success if there were any commitment on denuclearisation, with the hard bargaining over implementation left for later negotiations.

However the key to the success of the summit also depends on the diplomatic style and negotiating skills of the two leaders. While Trump is unpredictable, Kim is virtually unknown. His first appearance in the diplomatic world was only when he was on camera with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at Panmunjom in late April.

“At that time, he managed to not look like a monster, which is not very difficult. We don’t know how he might perform one-on-one with Trump. I would expect he will be well-prepared and wily,” Roy said.

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#APEC leaders swear by multilateral trading

LEADERS of 21 economies in Asia and the Pacific yesterday expressed their strong commitment to the multilateral trade system in the digital age and anti-protectionism, but also recognized the importance of bilateral agreements as strongly pushed by the United States.

“The Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, and the support for the multilateral trading system as well as the growth of connectivity strategies and programmes have provided long-term orientations for Apec’s activities and afforded hundreds of concrete cooperation areas,” said Vietnam’s President, Tran Dai Quang, chair of the meeting.

Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) gathered in Vietnam’s central city of Danang to champion the multilateral trading system and liberalization amid changes in the global situation after one of its major members, the US, shifted its policy to focus on bilateralism.

In the declaration issued yesterday the leaders said they “recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognizing the role of legitimate trade defense instruments”.

The statement is a compromise between the US’s demand to promote bilateral economic cooperation and the majority of Apec members who champion a multilateral trade framework at the core of cooperation among the economies.

 President Donald Trump, who attended the Apec summit for the first time this year, has pushed his “America First” policy and earlier withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Washington had strongly pushed.

The remaining 11 members of the TPP held a meeting on the sidelines of the Apec in Danang and told a press conference yesterday that they had finally agreed to go ahead without the US, by suspending 20 provisions from the original deal.

Japan and Singapore are the most active members of the TPP. Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that the CPTPP would go into force after six of the 11 nations ratify it.

The 11 are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Apec ministerial meeting issued a statement yesterday, rather than immediately after the meeting on Wednesday, also voicing concerns about protectionism.

“We recall our pledge to extend our standstill commitment until the end of 2020 and recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognising the role of legitimate trade defence instruments,” the statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Apec should keep its faith in free trade amid the growing trend of protectionism and anti-globalisation.

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The world is keeping a close eye on free trade pacts in the Asia and Pacific, which is a great challenge for the region, he said. Thailand and other Apec members hoped to see progress at the 11th ministerial meeting in the World Trade Organisation, he said.

Prayut proposed at the summit yesterday that Apec should also focus on human resource development, digital access, food security and green innovation.

Apec has a framework on human resource development in the digital age as a guideline for all to develop their human resources in keeping with advancing technology.

The Asia Pacific region is one of the major food producers of the world. Countries in the region should utilise digital technology to develop productivity in the agriculture sector to ensure world food security, he said.

The Thai government has applied HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy philosophy, which is compatible with new technology, to move the agriculture sector in the country towards “smart farming”, Prayut told Apec leaders.

In order to support and enhance micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Thailand has joined hands with Peru to push the Apec Strategy for Green Sustainable and Innovative MSMEs, he said.

As the Apec summit this year has approved the strategy, Thailand is ready to implement it, he said.

Apec aims to become a low-carbon society and to generate jobs in the growing “green industry”, he said.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the meeting that the government should play a key role in distributing the gains of globalisation and digitalisation.

While free markets and private enterprise are required to drive innovations that have opened up new frontiers for trade and commerce, efficient and fair economies are just as important, The Straits Times quoted Lee as saying.

Source - TheNation

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