Terror replaces economy

SHANGHAI, OCTOBER 18: The US appealed to Pacific Rim partners on Thursday for help and support in the fight against terrorism but differences remain over the US-led military response to the September 11 hijack attacks.

US President George W. Bush and other leaders from the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum arrive later under tight security for the most high-powered meeting since the attacks and a more recent spate of cases involving anthrax, potentially deadly bacteria used in biological weapons.

APEC foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, met over breakfast to lay the groundwork for their leaders’ weekend summit, which looks set to be dominated by terrorism rather than economics despite a global slowdown.

‘‘Secretary Colin Powell made an appeal for help and support because this affects all of us,’’ Philippine Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, who is also foreign minister, told reporters.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told journalists the ministers had agreed the fight against terrorism was longterm and should involve the United Nations — a reference to Chinese and Russian concerns about Washington’s dominant role so far.

‘‘We have no problems with anything that’s being said, because Malaysia condemns any form of terrorism,’’ Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz told reporters. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, and predominantly Muslim Malaysia have voiced concern about US-led strikes against Afghanistan.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters the ministers had shown ‘‘a high degree of unity’’ in their talks. ‘‘The ministers...agreed about practical measures to establish control on the financial flows which could nourish terrorist activity in its various forms,’’ he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin comes to the forum with the confidence of a man whose nation is one of the few growing amid a global slowdown. A chance to reaffirm Moscow’s anti-terror stance will come during the October 20-21 summit of APEC leaders as well as during a key meeting with US President George W. Bush on Sunday, the two leaders’ final day in Shanghai. Another round of talks is expected at Bush’s Texas ranch in November.

China has struggled to keep the meeting from being dominated by terrorism and said the world economy should stay atop the agenda for APEC, which represents almost half the world’s trade and 60 per cent of global output. Still, few doubt the APEC summit, the largest international meeting modern China has hosted, will be overshadowed by talk about terrorism, even if it is through the prism of how the September 11 Air attacks worsened the global economic slowdown. (Reuters)