    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
    [Pages 1727-1732]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to American and Asian Business Leaders in Auckland

    September 12, 1999

        Thank you very much, and good morning. Ambassador Bolger, thank you
    for the fine introduction and for the years of friendship and
    cooperation we have enjoyed. Prime Minister Shipley, thank you for being
    here today and for making my family and me and our American group feel
    so welcome in New Zealand.
        Since this is the sort of economic engine of APEC, all of you, I do
    want to note that my mother-in-law and my daughter and I did our part to
    support the New Zealand economy yesterday, and we got some nice free
    press for doing it, in the newspaper. I appreciate that.
        I'd like to thank Jack Smith, who is up here with us, the CEO of
    General Motors, for his leadership, and those of the other American
    business leaders--John Maasland, the CEO of APEC; Ambassador Beeman. I'd
    also like to thank the American team who is here with me--our Secretary
    of State, Madeleine Albright; our Trade Representative, Charlene
    Barshefsky; National Security Adviser Sandy Berger; and National
    Economic Adviser Gene Sperling.
        I am delighted to be here in Auckland for the last gathering of
    Asia-Pacific leaders in the 20th century. We primarily deal with
    economic issues, but today, if you'll forgive me, I'd like to begin with
    a few comments about security issues, because the eyes of the world
    today, not just in Asia but throughout the globe, are on East Timor,
    where the people voted overwhelmingly for independence, where, I
    believe, Indonesia's Government did the right thing in supporting the
    vote, just as it did the right thing in holding its own free elections
    earlier this year.
        Now it is clear, however, that the Indonesian military has aided and
    abetted militia violence in East Timor, in violation of the commitment
    of its leaders to the international community. This has allowed the
    militias to murder innocent people, to send thousands fleeing for their
    lives, to attack the United Nations compound.
        The United States has suspended all military cooperation,
    assistance, and sales to Indonesia. I have made clear that my
    willingness to support future economic assistance from the international
    community will depend upon how Indonesia handles the situation from
    today forward. We are carefully reviewing all our own economic and
    commercial programs there. The present course of action is imperiling
    Indonesia's future, as well as that of the individual East Timorese.
        The Indonesian Government and military must not only stop what they
    are doing but reverse course. They must halt the violence not just in
    Dili but throughout the nation. They must permit humanitarian assistance
    and let the U.N. mission do its job. They must allow the East Timorese
    who have been pushed from their homes to return safely.

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    They must implement the results of the balloting, and they must allow an
    international force to help restore security.
        We are ready to support an effort led by Australia to mobilize a
    multinational force to help to bring security to East Timor under U.N.
    auspices. We all have a great deal at stake in the resolution of this
    crisis. We have a strong interest in seeing an Indonesia that is stable,
    prosperous, and democratic, the largest Muslim country in the world, a
    nation where soldiers are honored for their commitment to defend the
    people, not to abuse them--all of that has been called into question in
    the last few days. We don't want to see the will of the people
    overturned by violence and intimidation. And because the U.N. helped to
    organize the vote in East Timor, we have a special responsibility to
    help to see it through, to stand up to those who now break their
    promises to the international community.
        It is not just the people of East Timor who deserve a democratic
    future, though they do. It is not just the people of Indonesia who have
    embraced their own choices in a free election, though they, too, deserve
    a democratic future. We must help both the people of East Timor and the
    democratic process in Indonesia because the world community seeks to
    have the integrity of democracy protected everywhere. And today, again I
    say, the eyes of the world are on that tiny place and on those poor
    innocent, suffering people.
        I would also like to say just a couple of other words about security
    issues. I will meet here with President Kim and Prime Minister Obuchi to
    discuss peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. The people of
    North Korea need food and opportunities. They need engagement with the
    south and the chance for a brighter future. They do not need new
    weaponry that threatens the security of the region and the world.
        I would also like to say a word about China and the present tensions
    between China and Taiwan. The United States has enjoyed friendly
    relations with both China and Taiwan for some years now. Our policy has
    been rooted in our commitment to one China, our commitment to a peaceful
    resolution of the differences between China and Taiwan, our commitment
    to continuously expanding the cross-strait dialog. We have a clear
    policy enunciated in the three communiques and in our Taiwan Relations
    Act.
        I reaffirmed to President Jiang yesterday, and I will do what I can
    to support while I am here and after I leave here, the proposition that
    these peoples have too much at stake in a peaceful future, benefiting
    all their--all--their children to let the present difficulties
    deteriorate into a confrontation in which, in the end, all would suffer.
    I hope all of you, to the extent that you can, will reaffirm that
    course.
        Let me say that, returning to economics, this is a much happier
    occasion than the last APEC meeting. I think the uniform of the day for
    the business people sort of illustrates that. [Laughter] Last year you
    might have met in straitjackets. [Laughter] But economies that were
    going downhill then, now seem to be clearly on the road to recovery.
        Just for example, South Korea's industry has produced 30 percent
    more this June than last. Its economy is expected to grow at least 6\1/
    2\ percent this year. All over the region, key stock markets are now
    above pre-crisis levels, currencies are stronger, workers are going back
    to work.
        And for every one of you that had something to do with this
    recovery, I want to express my thanks to the businesses that had to
    tighten their belts, but pressed ahead; to the governments that had to
    pursue difficult, but vital reforms; to the international community
    which mobilized over $100 billion in assistance and applied it wisely;
    to the countries which, like the United States, kept our markets open to
    keep the crisis from becoming worse and to help it turn around more
    quickly.
        Still, the consequences of the last couple of years have been quite
    severe. Far too many people lost their jobs, their businesses, and their
    dreams. There are longstanding concerns about stability, openness, human
    rights, and the environment which remain.
        Therefore, the main thing I want to say about economics today is
    that this is not a time for complacency. There is still hard work to be
    done and a great deal to be won on the eve of this new millennium.
        Here in Auckland, we should put APEC's weight behind the new trade
    round to be

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    launched at the WTO meeting in Seattle. We should continue to reform the
    global financial architecture. We must work together to promote
    stability, as well as peace.
        We, in the United States, knew when this crisis started that we had
    to work in all these ways. We have worked on the global financial
    architecture. We have worked to try to promote a new round of world
    trade. We also, remembering the awful experience of the Great
    Depression, worked hard to keep our markets open. For the first half of
    1999, our trade deficit was more than double what it was in the first
    half of 1997.
        But I think it is clear that that decision, even though it's
    somewhat controversial in the United States, was the right decision for
    American workers and for American businesses because we always need to
    be looking at the long term and the prospects of creating a global
    economy in which there is more trade, not less.
        With 45 percent of the world's trade, the APEC nations have a vital
    interest in whether we take this direction or not. We can lead the way
    to a stronger, fairer, world trade system just as we did with the
    information technology agreement 3 years ago with APEC. Our APEC
    ministers already have backed an ambitious trade agenda; now it's time
    for the leaders to follow suit.
        When we get to Seattle, we should then try to make APEC's agenda the
    world's agenda. We should be committed strongly to dramatic increase of
    market access in agricultural, industrial, and service areas. We should
    be committed to reaching some other agreements along the way during the
    process of the trade round--for example, to keep the information
    superhighway free of tolls, with a permanent moratorium on electronic
    commerce duties--to improve openness in government procurement, to speed
    up tariff liberalization in all the key areas we've identified. And I
    also believe we should be committed to completing the entire round
    within 3 years. Our citizens shouldn't have to wait any longer for
    governments to get a job like this done.
        A strong world trading system is good for all the nations of the
    region. It is certainly good for the United States, where about a third
    of our economic growth came from expanded trade until the Asian
    financial crisis. Over a third of our agricultural products are
    exported. One in 10 of our jobs depends on exports; millions more depend
    on our ability to import. In our country, we have had remarkable growth
    with low inflation, thanks in no small measure to greater competition.
        The world trading system will be even more beneficial as more
    nations commit to play by its rules. Yesterday I had a very good meeting
    with President Jiang. And China and the United States reaffirmed our
    commitment to China's entry into the WTO on commercially viable terms. I
    hope we can make it happen soon. I want to assure you--every one of
    you--that we are working hard to make it happen soon.
        I also believe strongly that our world trading system will grow in
    popular support if it supports our values. And I mean values that are
    generally shared by civilized nations across cultural, religious, and
    regional lines. Twice in the last year or so, I have gone to Geneva to
    talk about a world trading system for the 21st century and the
    importance of honoring our values when it comes to labor, when it comes
    to the environment, when it comes to the openness with which powerful
    bodies make their decisions.
        Just as we will continue to enforce our trade laws at home to ensure
    fair competition, we will continue to address what I believe are
    commitments all of our people really want us to embrace--to decent
    working conditions and to the health of the global environment.
        This will not be, however, about erecting new barriers, but about
    lifting the lives of all people. I am very pleased, for example, that
    the delegates at the International Labor Organization unanimously
    adopted a convention banning the worst forms of child labor.
        I am encouraged by our common commitment to address the challenge of
    global warming. Let me say this is still a very contentious issue among
    some developing and some developed countries. There are many developing
    countries that honestly believe that developed countries will use the
    whole climate change debate as a way of slowing economic opportunity for
    people in developing countries.

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        I completely disagree with that. Those who hold this view believe
    that the only way to grow an economy in the 21st century is with the
    same energy use patterns we saw in the 20th century. But if you talk to
    Mr. Smith--and, Jack, I read your press in the morning paper today--and
    what did he say? He said there are three dramatic changes going on in
    the automobile industry. One is in commerce--GM sells its first car in
    Taiwan over the Internet. Two is that cars are becoming automated
    information, communications, and entertainment systems, self-contained.
    And three is that the internal combustion engine is being changed in
    fundamental ways. And before we know it, there will be both blended-fuel
    and alternative-fuel vehicles which will be emitting far less greenhouse
    gases into the atmosphere, in ways that accelerate economic growth
    rather than diminish it.
        So I'm going on--as you can see, I'm not looking at my text here;
    this is something I really believe. One of the central--the world works
    by adherence to our departure from big ideas. And we organize ourselves
    around them, and then people like you do real well when you figure out
    how to improve on them, modify them, find a little niche in which to
    move. But if you stay with a big idea that's wrong too long, no matter
    how good the rest of our creativity is, we all get in trouble. And no
    matter how hard we work, we get in trouble, because we work harder and
    harder and harder at the wrong things.
        So I just want to say--I only get to make one more of these
    speeches, and then I'll be gone. [Laughter] I'll be an ex big idea,
    right? It will be over. [Laughter] One of the big ideas the world has to
    abandon is the idea that the only way to build a modern, prosperous
    economy is with the industrial energy use patterns of a former era. It
    is not true.
        And when you look at the future of China, when you look at the
    future of India, when you look at all the other developing economies,
    and you imagine what you can do with the cell phone, with the Internet,
    and with alternative energy development, a lot of very poor places in
    Africa and Asia and other parts of the world can skip a whole generation
    of economic development unless we stay in chains to a big idea that is
    no longer true.
        I hope you will help to lead the way to bring the developing and the
    developed countries together around finding new technologies that will
    both improve the economy and the environment at the same time.
        Finally, let me say, I am very grateful that there is a growing
    recognition that the world trading system and the WTO itself should be
    more open and accountable. I think this is very, very important. I think
    that there's a lot of controversy about it from time to time on the
    specifics, but in the end, greater accountability and greater openness
    and greater involvement of all elements of society in these
    decisionmakings will build greater support for a global economic system.
        I'd like to say just a few words about the global economic
    architecture, if I might. I think there's a real danger that I sense
    growing of people to say, ``Well, things are fine now; we don't need to
    continue to do anything about the economics of the financial
    architecture.'' I think that's a mistake.
        The Asian financial crisis came after a high tide of capital washed
    into the region, often highly leveraged, flowing quickly into countries
    without adequate risk assessment. When the tide receded just as rapidly,
    if not more rapidly, it left behind a legacy of mounting debt,
    devaluation, and severe dislocation.
        For us in the United States, the crisis underscored our tremendous
    stake in the stability and success of Asia. It demonstrated how closely
    tied our economies had become. And as our Asian markets dried up, our
    companies, our banks, our workers, our farmers clearly felt the effects.
        We've been seeking new ways to help the international system
    moderate the cycle of boom and bust in much the way that individual
    economies have learned to do since the Great Depression. We are working
    more closely to make sure that all, including the developing economies,
    have a seat at the table, through new mechanisms like the financial
    stability forum. I just want to urge you all to keep this progress on
    course.
        Emerging economies, of course, have work to do--they still have to
    continue to restructure their banking systems, make their corporations
    more accountable, reduce reliance

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    on short-term loans, encourage greater direct investment. Creditor
    nations must improve our own financial supervision and regulation so
    investors will assess risks more carefully and banks will lend more
    wisely.
        The IMF now has special financing available to help a country head
    off a financial contagion--something we in the United States worked very
    had to set up--provided the country has maintained responsible economic
    policies. We must continue to develop such tools.
        Working with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, we must
    also strengthen safety nets so people have unemployment insurance and
    job training, so that impoverished children are not the first and
    hardest hit victims of an economic downturn. We must, in short, continue
    our efforts to put a human face on the global economy--not because it is
    charity, but because it is the right thing to do from a humane, as well
    as from an economic standpoint. It is essential to the long-term success
    of the market. An active role for government is important not to
    restrain competition or to dictate the flow of investment, but to ensure
    fair dealing and a level playing field.
        New Zealand is leading efforts to broaden competition in domestic
    markets. The United States and other APEC partners are working with the
    private sector across the region to make it easier to move goods and
    services across borders. Our economies will work even better when we
    have stronger standards for disclosure by businesses and governments.
        One of our leaders made a comment the other day that I kind of
    wished I had made because I thought it was so clever. Speaking of the
    broad consensus for greater openness, President Estrada said, ``Now,
    when Alan Greenspan and the common people have the same view, we should
    listen.'' [Laughter] I don't know whether Mr. Greenspan liked that, but
    I liked it very much. [Laughter]
        Let me say in one last point, I think more openness, more honesty,
    more responsibility in our business dealings gives us a more supportive
    political system and, therefore, gives us better economic results. I
    don't believe nations can reap the full benefits of the technology
    revolution if the free flow of information is curbed, for example. I
    think entrepreneurs and investors will flee nations where the most
    lucrative deals are made in secret, where contracts aren't honored,
    where courts aren't fair, where creativity is stifled, where there are
    grievous worker complaints.
        Instead, I think they will be drawn to countries where there's
    fairness and openness and freedom, good education system, and broad
    participation in the prosperity of the nation. These things are
    important to all of us.
        So I say I'm glad you're here in these relaxed jackets instead of
    straitjackets this year. I'm grateful for what all of you have done to
    support APEC and its trade liberalization agenda and, specifically, to
    help lead the nations of Asia out of its financial crisis. But there is
    still a great deal for us to do together to expand trade, to strengthen
    the financial architecture, to strengthen the conditions among and
    within nations for success of the global economy with a human face, and
    to provide the basic framework of security without which economies
    cannot grow freely.
        On balance, I think one would have to be quite optimistic looking
    toward the new millennium. But I think we also would have to be quite
    sober in the price that we will pay if any of us should fail to fulfill
    our responsibility. If we work hard at the right things, our children
    will live in a much better world.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:35 a.m. at the New Zealand National
    Maritime Museum. In his remarks, he referred to New Zealand Ambassador
    to the U.S. James B. Bolger; Prime Minister Jennifer Shipley of New
    Zealand; President Clinton's mother-in-law, Dorothy Rodham; U.S.
    Ambassador to New Zealand Josiah H. Beeman; President Kim Dae-jung of
    South Korea; Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi of Japan; President Jiang Zemin
    of China; and President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines.

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