APEC Media Roundup: MEETING - September 8, 2007

Links to coverage of the APEC 2007 meeting in Sydney this week from media around the Pacific rim.

Media From:

New Zealand

Apec leaders to sign climate change pact
Asia-Pacific leaders were expected to sign a landmark statement on climate change at the Apec summit today, papering over differences between rich and developing nations over pollution targets. LINK

Helen Clark unaware of Apec security breach
By IAN LLEWELLYN

Australian media reports that the security cordon around Prime Minister Helen Clark's cavalcade were breached are a mystery to her. LINK

Keeping the peace in Sydney – and showing them who's in charge
The Press

If some of the ordinary freedoms the residents of Sydney usually enjoy have been taken away this week, at least the famed Australian sense of the ridiculous has survived Apec hysteria, writes The Press in an editorial. LINK

APEC spouses have their own meeting

While APEC leaders held important talks in Sydney, their spouses had a meeting of a different kind. LINK

Clark dubious over climate deal
TVNZ

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is playing down the significance of any climate change declaration from the 21 leaders at the Apec summit in Sydney. LINK

Australia

Chaser juggernaut breaches global awareness
Jano Gibson and Jordan Baker

ON THURSDAY morning they were just a bunch of comedians known only to their Australian viewers and the many politicians they've left red-faced. LINK

PM puts on a brave face amid doubts over leadership
Phillip Coorey Chief Political Correspondent

THE Prime Minister's hopes of using a historic first visit from a Russian leader to boost his political fortunes has ended in embarrassment with his leadership under question and his APEC agenda derailed. LINK

Nice showbag, but the silly shirt's a secret

AUSTRALIAN art, jewellery and an Akubra will be presented to the 21 APEC leaders as a gift from taxpayers. LINK

Cleaner technologies cut emission: ABARE

A new ABARE report says the widespread adoption of cleaner, more advanced and energy efficient technologies can greatly reduce the growth in greenhouse gas emissions in APEC economies. LINK

Two charged after joining APEC motorcade

Two men have been charged after attempting to join an APEC motorcade in central Sydney. LINK

Some verbal gymnastics, and Bush is in Austria
Annabel Crabb

APEC was in dire need of a language as yet unmastered by the rampaging Kevin Rudd. link

Gridlock as the city goes bush
Jano Gibson and Kerry Coleman

IF ONLY we all had a presidential motorcade. As APEC leaders glided through empty city streets, Sydneysiders heading out of town found themselves trapped in gridlock for hours on end yesterday. LINK

No call for ceremonies

ABORIGINAL people in the Sydney area say they are being frozen out of APEC in case they speak out about the Government's intervention in the Northern Territory. LINK

Uranium exports not for military use
Mark Davis

AUSTRALIAN uranium sold to Russia under a deal signed by the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, would only be used for peaceful purposes, the Federal Government said yesterday. LINK

Greenpeace attacks 'aspirational' emissions deal

Environmental lobby group Greenpeace says the Sydney Declaration on climate change which is expected to be signed by APEC leaders today will not do anything to combat the issue. LINK

Election talk overshadowing APEC

Domestic politics are casting a shadow over the APEC meeting, with increasing scrutiny on the Coalition's election chances and the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard. LINK

Leaders arrive at Opera House

APEC leaders have arrived at the Sydney Opera House for the highest-level talks of the summit, with climate change at the top of the agenda. LINK

Aus, Japan, US hold three-way talks

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, US President George W Bush, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have held top-level talks on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Sydney. LINK

Putin says uranium safe in Russian hands
Brendan Nicholson and Nabila Ahmed

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin says Australian uranium will not be used in nuclear weapons or sold to other countries for use in bombs. LINK

Pressure mounts on PM
Michelle Grattan, Misha Schubert and Daniel Flitton

PRIME Minister John Howard's great APEC moment has turned into a Liberal nightmare, with Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd seizing much of the limelight and fresh leadership speculation breaking out. LINK

Stand-off stays
US PRESIDENT George Bush and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin showed no sign of progress after talks in Sydney to defuse tension over US missile defence plans that have angered Moscow. LINK

Rice goes easy on Rudd's Iraq plan
Peter Hartcher

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice has taken a more conciliatory approach to Labor's Iraq policy under Kevin Rudd than under his predecessor, Kim Beazley. LINK

Bush seeks democracy alliance
Brendan Nicholson and Daniel Flitton

US PRESIDENT George Bush wants to create an alliance of Asia-Pacific democracies, including Australia, to strengthen processes of government in the region. LINK

APEC urged to keep up climate change imperative
Michelle Grattan

PAUL Keating has urged APEC to affirm "the moral imperative" of reducing global greenhouse emissions. LINK

APEC embraces greenhouse cuts
Dennis Shanahan and Cameron Stewart

CHINESE President Hu Jintao and George W.Bush have delivered a sweeping victory for John Howard on climate change, agreeing for the first time to accept global goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions. LINK

Arms deal with Russia 'a catch-up'
Sian Powell and Patrick Walters

INDONESIA insists its deal to buy $1.2billon worth of Russian submarines, tanks and helicopters reflects Jakarta's desire to catch up in defence. LINK

United States

Hu's Up, Bush Down at Pacific Rim Summit
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- President Bush used an address before an audience of Pacific Rim business elite to discuss the war on terror. Chinese President Hu Jintao talked about the business opportunities that China's growth is producing. LINK

Fake motorcade causes summit stir

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Members of an Australian TV comedy show, one of them dressed as Osama bin Laden, drove through two security checkpoints Thursday before being stopped near the Sydney hotel where U.S. President George W. Bush is staying. LINK

Countries Reach Deal on Climate Change
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Pacific Rim nations reached tentative agreement on the need ''to slow, stop and then reverse'' climate change, setting nonbinding goals to improve energy use, according to a draft statement Saturday. LINK

APEC Leaders to Sign Climate Change Pact At Summit
By REUTERS
YDNEY (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific leaders were expected to sign a landmark statement on climate change at their annual summit on Saturday, papering over differences between rich and developing nations over pollution targets. LINK

APEC experts in climate agreement
CNN

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Pacific Rim negotiators have agreed on a joint statement on global warming that will ask developing nations to commit to energy efficiency targets and acknowledge that wealthy countries have greater responsibility for the problem, two Asian officials said on Friday. LINK

South Korean leader presses Bush on Korean War

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- In a rare public exchange highlighting the delicacy of political diplomacy, President Bush told South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun a formal end to the Korean War begins when North Korea halts its secretive nuclear weapons program. LINK

Bush urges openness in China
By Maura Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- -- President Bush warned China today that the world would be watching as Beijing holds next summer's Olympics and urged Chinese leaders to ease restrictions on religious believers and political dissidents. LINK

China

Bush offers peace pact to DPRK
(Agencies/China Daily)
SYDNEY -- The United States would consider a peace treaty with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) if it gave up its nuclear weapons program, US President George W. Bush said on Friday. LINK

Hu seeks progress on N-talks
By Qin Jize (China Daily)

President Hu Jintao on Friday urged all parties to the talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula to fulfill their commitments. LINK

Australian ambassador lauds multifaceted ties with China
By Geoff Raby

We welcome China Daily's publication of this Australia APEC Special to commemorate Australia's hosting of the 2007 APEC summit, during which time we will welcome President Hu Jintao to Australia for his second visit as China's head of state. LINK

Hu: It's time to 'get tough on Taiwan'

SYDNEY，Sept.7 - Beijing has to send tougher warnings to the Taiwan authorities as the situation across the Taiwan Straits has entered a "highly dangerous period", President Hu Jintao told his US counterpart George W. Bush Thursday. LINK

Japan

APEC's purpose is missing
By Gregory Clark

Each year we have to ask the same question as world leaders drag themselves across the globe, taking days from their crowded schedules, simply to hand out platitudes on the importance of free trade, the environment or some other trendy topic of the day. LINK

ENDS

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