APEC leaders discuss trade, climate change and

terrorism amidst protests

Riot police watch protesters as the latter hold a rally outside the Supreme Court to coincide with the session
on the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation (EDCA) which they alleged to favor only the
United States military Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. Pic: AP.

by AP News-18th November 2015

MANILA, Philippines (AP) Leaders from 21 countries and self-governing

territories are gathering in Manila for the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation summit. The meetings official agenda is focused on trade,
business and economic issues but terrorism, South China Sea disputes
and climate change are also set to be in focus. (All times are local.)

_
11:15 a.m.
President Barack Obama is calling on China to halt further land
reclamation and new construction in the South China Sea.
Obama is meeting with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on the
sidelines of the APEC summit. Hes calling for bold steps to lower
tensions.
Obama says he and Aquino discussed the impact that Chinas land
reclamation is having on regional stability. Hes adding that maritime
disputes need to be resolved peacefully.
Aquino says freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea
must be continuously ensured, consistent with international law.
___
11:10 a.m.
Local news reports say a woman in labor failed to reach hospital and
delivered her baby on a Manila sidewalk, assisted by police, after getting
caught in horrendous traffic due to road closures for APEC.
ABS-CBN news website posted pictures from eyewitness Angel RamosCanoy of the woman being helped off a motorcycle and assisted on the
sidewalk, apparently in labor. Reports say the incident happened
Monday.
Cely Gonzales of the San Juan de Dios Hospital says the woman did not
want to be interviewed. Gonzales says the mother and baby boy are
doing well and are about to be discharged.
___
10:40 a.m.
President Barack Obama tells a business conference on the sidelines of
APEC that nations must achieve an ambitious framework to limit global
warming.
Obama and dozens of other leaders will meet in Paris at the end of the

month to finalize a carbon-cutting deal.

Obama urged businesses to view responses to climate change as an
opportunity. He says theres no contradiction between economic
development and protecting the environment.
My message to you today is your businesses can do right by your

bottom lines and also the planet.

___
10:10 a.m.
Manila residents are complaining of difficulties getting to work and a fake
image of the Philippines being presented to the world during the APEC
meetings.
Roads have been closed to regular traffic in central Manila and other
efforts made to spruce up the usually traffic clogged city.
Trixie Logan, 19, says its a bit off because its like fake beauty, because
they hid the problems around just to say that the Philippines is
beautiful.
Many workers whose offices are near the APEC venues are walking for
several kilometers to get to work because of the tight security.
Jaime Rocete, 63, says workers are having a difficult time, especially for
those who are sick, with arthritis, its hard to walk.
___
9:30 a.m.
Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese online commerce giant Alibaba, says
there should be a third world war, against poverty, climate change and
disease.
Ma told a gathering of business leaders on the sidelines of the APEC
summit on Wednesday that he is an optimist.
Ma says You should always have hope. Try to make sure that its not
only in the movies you see Mission Impossible. In the real life you have
to make mission possible.

Drawing from his own experience in building a business empire from

scratch, he said that many issues, including trade disputes, can be
resolved just by doing things online.
___
8:30 a.m.
China is unhappy with Japanese comments about territorial tensions in
the South China Sea.
Japan has voiced objections to Chinese moves to expand its claims in the
South China Sea that Tokyo says are violating international law and
threatening free navigation and flight in the region. Japan has also
sparred with Beijing over their conflicting claims to uninhabited islands in
the East China Sea.
At a daily press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hong Lei said China was dissatisfied with the remarks and
actions of the Japanese side. He accused Japan of trying to stoke
tensions over an issue it is not directly involved with.
The territorial spats are not on the APEC agenda, though are drawing
attention.
___
5:45 p.m.
Vietnam and the Philippines have signed an agreement to elevate their
relationship to a strategic partnership.
The countries are the ones most at odds with Beijing over its claims to
the South China Sea. Their agreement is meant to help deepen their
trade, maritime and defense cooperation.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said he and Vietnamese President
Truong Tan Sang shared their concerns over recent developments
affecting the regions peace and stability.
The two leaders told reporters they reaffirmed the need to ensure
maritime security and freedom of navigation and flight in the South

China Sea.
___
5:20 p.m.
Large sections of central Manilas busiest thoroughfares are closed to all
but official vehicles during APEC. The nearly empty streets are a rare site
in the notoriously traffic clogged city. The government is advising
residents to either take a holiday or stay a home during the meetings.
The influx of foreign leaders into Manila and extra-tight security has also
disrupted travel plans with hundreds of flights canceled or delayed.
Manilas international airport was deserted for stretches of Tuesday as
airspace was restricted for the arrival of leaders including President
Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.

A man walks in front of the APEC 2015 logo in Manila, Philippines on

Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. Pic: AP.

___
4:10 p.m.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario says the Paris attacks
preoccupied foreign ministers as they met at the APEC summit. He says
every minister that spoke at a ministerial meeting started with remarks
about the attacks Friday that killed 129 people and expressed
condolences to the families of victims.
There was a common refrain from the ministers in terms of the Paris

attacks, he says. There was a call for unity of nations and peoples and
there was additionally a call to bring to justice those who perpetuated
the horrific developments in Paris.
___
3:50 p.m.
President Barack Obama says the U.S. will transfer two ships to the
Philippine Navy as part of an effort to boost maritime security for the
Southeast Asian nation.
The U.S. has tried to boost security ties with the Philippines in a bid to
check Chinas territorial ambitions in disputed waters of the South China
Sea.
Obama, in Manila for the APEC summit, says the U.S. will transfer a
research vessel to help navigate territorial waters and a U.S. Coast Guard
cutter. He announced the transfer Tuesday after touring the BRP Gregorio
del Pilar, a Philippine Navy warship once owned by the U.S.
___
3:30 p.m.
Philippine trade secretary Gregory Domingo says trade and foreign
ministers who finished two days of meetings Tuesday have called for a
comprehensive study and recommendations on a proposed free trade
area encompassing all of Asia and the Pacific Rim. The work is to be
completed by the end of next year with an initial report scheduled for

January.
He says the ministers agreed that the proliferation of regional and
bilateral free trade agreements, including the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific
Partnership, are all building blocs that are actually good for global
trade.
Domingo says the profusion of agreements will eventually lead to bigger
free trade blocs and even progress at the long-stalled World Trade
Organization talks.
___
2:30 p.m.
Twenty-seven shuttle buses running between Manilas airport, hotel and
media centers for the APEC summit are all new vehicles imported from
China, a top Chinese newspaper reports Tuesday in a story emphasizing
trade and business ties between China and the Philippines.
Chinese state media have accentuated Chinas engagement with
countries in the APEC bloc and its efforts to foster development in the
region ahead of this weeks meeting, while playing down any rivalries
with neighboring countries over sovereignty in the South China Sea.
The report in the Peoples Daily, the flagship newspaper of Chinas ruling
Communist Party, also noted a container ship terminal in Manila built by
Chinese companies, as well as the use at the meeting of Chinese-made
tablet computers.
(News assistant Dong Tongjian in Beijing contributed)
___
2:00 p.m.
The draft APEC leaders statement seen by AP is warning that global
growth remains fragile and that inequality is acting as a brake on
economic development.
The draft statement says that significant downside risks, including
inadequate demand growth, financial volatility and stagnation in some

economies threaten the current uneven global growth prospects.

The statement by the leaders of the 21-member APEC forum that
includes the United States and China is due to be issued Thursday at the
end of their talks.
___
1:00 p.m.
More than 300 protesters have tried to march to the U.S. Embassy in
Manila, pushing and shoving with anti-riot police who blocked their way.
The farmers and youth activists wore head bands printed with Junk
APEC, and chanting U.S. government, terrorist!, and Down with
Imperialism!
The rally was underway as President Barack Obama touched down in
Manila. The angry chants were in contrast to tweets of Welcome to
Manila@POTUS and pictures of Air Force One taxiing on the runway and
Obama being greeted by officials at a private hanger.
12:35 p.m.
Leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit plan to
condemn the Paris attacks, according to a draft of their declaration seen
by The Associated Press.
The draft statement says: We stand in solidarity with the people of
France and all victims of terrorism elsewhere. It says the attacks require
a united global response.
The 21-member APEC forum that includes the United States and China
ends Thursday.
The attacks on Friday killed 129 people and wounded 350 others.
Posted by Thavam