Riot police advance to block a group of protesters as they attempt to march towards the venue for this week’s APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit of Leaders Monday, Nov.16, 2015 at the financial district of Makati…
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The Philippines’ barong tagalog, a partially see-through, embroidered shirt sewn from pineapple fiber and silk that was used at the 1996 summit, is getting a re-run when Manila hosts APEC this week.
“We are one with the world in condemning the terrorist attacks in Paris and in other places where innocent civilians are being targeted”, said Teddy Casiño, a leader of the People’s Campaign Against APEC and Imperialist Globalization, according to Inquirer News. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summits, which draw the US president and other heads of state, are sometimes memorable for just one moment: leaders posing for a group photo in unexpected attire.
The response is contained in a draft of the declaration to be issued when the annual summit ends Thursday.
Manila has said it will not raise the South China Sea dispute at the summit to avoid embarrassing Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also attending, although it has contested claims with Beijing over territory in the sea. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla will attend instead. They dub it a talk shop and joke the acronym means “A flawless Excuse to Chat”.
Manila – Regional tensions over the South China Sea and security concerns after the attack by Islamist militants on Paris could eclipse efforts by Pacific-rim leaders this week to boost trade and growth across a region of around three billion people.
He said that a number of leaders and representatives will be meeting in private “taking advantage of the fact that they are all here”.
“Apec is about economic methods, only about economic methods”. There could also be discussions about the current global menace, even if the nations’ leaders want to focus their talks on trade, since these non-economic issues are also interconnected with the economy.
“The US image in the region is again on the rise and China’s has taken a bit of a battering due to its actions in the South China Sea, the slowing growth of its economy”, said Malcolm Cook of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
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Two USA military patrols in seas claimed by China, including last week’s flight by a pair of B-52 bombers near the artificial islands, have been welcomed by America’s allies in Asia.
