Police tightened security yesterday ahead of a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders that Australia's prime minister said should focus on finding a new path to combat climate change.
The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum - with its focus on trade and a membership that includes powerhouses China, Japan and the United States - is a magnet for anti-globalization and environmental protesters. US President George W. Bush, who arrives tomorrow, and anger at the Iraq War are also drawing protesters.
Parts of Sydney began to resemble a besieged camp, with police erecting a 4-kilometer-long, 3-meter-tall security fence, dubbed by local media the "Great Wall of APEC," near the summit site.
Police arrested 11 activists from the environmental group Greenpeace for painting anti-APEC slogans on a coal ship in the port of Newcastle, 170 kilometers north of Sydney, the New South Wales state police said.
New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma warned any groups preparing to incite violence that police will respond forcefully. "The police will be out in force, and they'll enforce the law, and they'll do so with strength and authority," said Iemma.
APEC, founded in 1989 to promote trade and investment, is comprised of 21 members, spanning both sides of the Pacific. While trade remains the core focus, the group's mission has broadened over the years to include security, health and, this year, the environment.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the host, said yesterday he will try to persuade the other leaders to endorse a new program for global warming that would replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Howard - whose government has refused to ratify Kyoto because its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions do not apply to some developing nations - said he wants a new global agreement that covers all polluters.
Separately, senior officials put the finishing touches on a draft declaration on trade and other issues that will be sent to government ministers for approval midweek.
The officials discussed how to bolster the faltering Doha round of global trade talks, ways to dismantle existing barriers to trade and prospects for a region-wide free-trade agreement, Australian officials said.
This year's leaders' meeting will take place from Saturday to Sunday at the Sydney Opera House overlooking the city's scenic harbor.
Bush is scheduled to hold a series of one-on-one meetings with Howard and other leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
When it comes to tackling climate change, many APEC members have sharply disagreed on policies. While the US and Australia have rejected the Kyoto approach, other APEC members like Japan and Canada have embraced it.
To bridge differences, Howard said the summit was unlikely to agree to hard reduction levels for greenhouse gases. A draft outline for the leaders meeting called for APEC members to voluntarily make "measurable and verifiable contributions to meeting shared global goals."
Source: China Daily/agencies
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