Pacific Rim leaders approve rescue plan

Clinton

After two days of talks over the difficult Asian currency crisis, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chreten said, "We say to the world, we will not be discouraged, we will not turn back" from the goal of renewed trade in the next century.

The leaders also expanded their ranks, adding Russia, Vietnam and Peru to the 18-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

The leaders expressed determination to reach a worldwide agreement in Kyoto, Japan to cut greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. But they failed to strike an agreement on how much pollutants each nation will be required to cut.

Clinton, in an upbeat assessment as the meetings ended, said an understanding to reduce trade barriers in nine areas - from toys to chemicals - "is a strong vote of confidence in our common future."

"A number of leaders - including those from affected countries - said, 'You don't fix this overnight,"' said Daniel Tarullo, Clinton's international economics adviser. He said APEC sent a reassuring message by demonstrating the leaders were responding "appropriately and forthrightly."

"There are no easy solutions," said Philippine Finance Secretary Robert De Ocampo. "This thing is pretty shocking. The measures that are needed to address it don't make the governments in power very popular."

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged stronger regulations to govern the activities of currency traders, who he has blamed for triggering the Asian crisis. But a Canadian official, who summed up the talks, said, "There was no feeling in the room it was at all feasible to curtail free market currency trading."

Outside the heavily guarded campus where the leaders met, police arrested at least 15 protesters. Hundreds of young people, most of them decrying human rights violations in Indonesia's East Timor, confronted lines of Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Vancouver police on bicycles. Police used pepper spray as some of the most persistent protesters tried to break through the lines. Global warming was the primary subject as the leaders met for lunch without aides.

Leaving a lot of room for separate approaches, the leaders' communique said, "We affirm that this issue is of vital significance, and that it requires cooperative efforts by the international community, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities."

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto was mounting a new initiative to help developing nations move closer to a treaty. Clinton said the leaders agreed to develop an emergency program to predict, prevent and coordinate responses to natural disasters such as the Indonesian forest fires that spread a haze over southeast Asia. The United States will contribute $4 million to the plan.

11-26-97