Sunday October 14 7:46 AM ET
China on High Alert on Eve of APEC Shanghai Summit
By Tiffany Wu
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - With patrol boats cruising Shanghai waterways and armed soldiers at the city limits, host China beefed up security Sunday for the highest profile gathering of world leaders since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
But Chinese officials said they were determined the terrorism issue would not overshadow the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting of 21 members, which opens Monday in Shanghai.
More than 10,000 police and security personnel have been mobilized to protect the event to be attended by President Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders.
``Do not worry,'' Shanghai mayor Xu Kuangdi told a news conference.
He said after the attacks on America ``we tightened our security and put in place more meticulous arrangements.'' In answer to a reporter's question, Xu shrugged off a warning last week by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network not to ``ride planes or live in tall buildings.''
``He didn't say don't take a flight to Shanghai or stay in high rises in this city,'' said Xu, whose metropolis boasts the world's third tallest building.
People's Liberation Army soldiers wearing camouflage and face paint guarded checkpoints on roads leading into Shanghai, inspecting luggage on buses and turning back out-of-town trucks.
In the heart of China's financial center, police have been checking IDs at train stations and on street corners ahead of the arrival of some 7,800 delegates.
German shepherds, Rottweilers and spaniels sniffed for bombs at the media center, expected to host around 3,000 journalists.
State media said China had added more guards aboard commercial airliners and imposed quarantine restrictions on international express mail to prevent germ warfare by post.
China's APEC spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said she hoped the meeting would focus on its traditional economic agenda.
``Of course, the attack on the United States that took place on September 11 is an issue that is a concern to everyone,'' Zhang told a news conference.
``As the host of this APEC meeting, our leaders have also proposed the exchange of views concerning this question to be discussed,'' she said.
``But I think the character and the nature of this APEC meeting will remain the same.''
``GREATEST AND GRANDEST''
Host China is keen to keep terror from dominating the week of talks. Zhang told Reuters in an interview the global economy, already teetering before the attacks, should top the agenda.
Analysts say a successful summit could help soften the downturn in the world's economies through shoring up fragile business and consumer confidence.
APEC includes the world's two biggest economies, the United States and Japan. The group's members boasted a combined GDP of $18 trillion in 1999. They represent about 44 percent of global trade.
Still, critics caution that APEC's consensus building methods result in watered down policy statements. The vast differences among its members, ranging from the United States to Papua New Guinea, make meaningful action unlikely, they say.
Senior officials gather Monday to hammer out the agenda for the foreign and trade ministers, who will forward it for endorsement to the summit of leaders on Oct. 20-21.
But with U.S. warplanes pounding Afghanistan, and anti-U.S. protests in APEC members Indonesia and Malaysia, it will be hard to keep attention on the usual topics of free trade and investment.
U.S. officials have said Bush will use the meetings as a platform to build support for the war on terrorism.
``Like it or not, the whole thing is going to be dominated by terrorism and the only real measure of its success will be whether President Bush turns up,'' said one APEC source.
``China's got to be a bit nervous.''
The U.S. administration has said on several occasions that Bush is committed to attending APEC, although in the aftermath of the attacks he canceled plans for visits to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo in connection with the trip.
China wants to ensure the largest gathering of world leaders on Chinese soil since the Communists took power in 1949 goes off without a hitch.
Chinese authorities are most concerned about Muslim separatists waging a sometimes violent campaign in Xinjiang, even though the region is about 1,860 miles from Shanghai in the far west.
Last week China said it had evidence the separatists had links with international terrorist groups.
Zhang said discussions would cover ``capacity building'' -- code for richer APEC members sharing technology and know-how with poorer economies -- and promoting a ``more just world multilateral trade system,'' Zhang said.
``We are determined to make this year's APEC the greatest and grandest gathering of the new century,'' she said.
Before the attacks, Beijing's goal was to push through a ''Shanghai Accord'' revitalizing a drive toward the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the region by 2010 for developed countries and by 2020 for developing countries.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.
CHINA-TAIWAN TENSIONS
As delegates from the member economies arrived in Shanghai on the eve of the meetings, political tension flared across the Taiwan Strait as China appeared to rule out attendance by Taiwan's nominated chief delegate, former vice president Li Yuan-zu.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told reporters Sunday the island should abide by APEC protocol and send a minister with an economy-related post.
Taiwan had pressed initially to send President Chen Shui-bian, who is regarded with intense suspicion by Beijing because of his past open advocacy of independence for the island. When Beijing flatly refused, Chen nominated Li, one of his senior advisers who served as vice president from 1990 to 1996.
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