By David Briscoe/AP
Workers drained and dismantled water-filled, anti-riot barricades around the Hawaii Convention Center as a day of protest ended with shouting but no violence, allowing the Asian Development Bank to focus on fixing regional economies to help the poor.
To the applause of bank delegates, ADB President Tadao Chino of Japan left a luncheon meeting on May 9 to talk to protesters in the street. The anti-globalization demonstrations were smaller than expected, partly because native Hawaiian dissidents were allowed from the outset to meet with delegates inside the convention hall. No further mass protests were planned.
Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano was jubilant at a gala reception for bank delegates and guests, declaring that he had delivered on promises for a peaceful venue — in sharp contrast to recent global financial gatherings shut down or severely hindered by mass protests against globalization.
Honolulu demonstrators, who marched in numbers far fewer than the thousands predicted, gave themselves credit for the lack of violence. Police estimated 500 people in the street outside the bank.
“We planned a peaceful protest, we delivered a peaceful protest,” activist Joshua Cooper said.
Inside the barricades separating marchers from the convention center’s vulnerable glass walls, Chino met for 10 minutes with protest representatives from Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.
“Hey, hey. Ho, ho. The ADB has got to go,” the crowd chanted as Chino accepted a petition demanding that the bank stop funding projects such as dams and power plants. Protesters said they help the rich and harm the poor.
Walden Bello, University of the Philippines professor, read the statement, interspersed with a repeated question to Chino: “Do you understand that, sir?”
The bank president, whose dark suit contrasted with the protesters’ multicolored regalia, said, “I am pleased to receive this petition ... I will review it carefully and respond to you as soon as possible.”
As Chino returned to the meetings, Bello yelled, “We demand that you listen to us. You must agree to shut down destructive ADB projects.”
On the business side, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill expressed confidence in Japan’s ability to reform and rebuild its economy, while Japan took steps to help Southeast Asian nations with so-called currency swaps.
O’Neill shied away from direct advice on how swiftly Japan needs to act to boost its economy, praising recent promises of reform by new Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa.
“They know what the requirement is, and only they can judge the pace,” O’Neill said at a news conference.
In his opening speech to the 59-nation bank’s annual sessions, bank president Chino said that fears of another Asian crisis because of the U.S. and Japanese slowdowns have been exaggerated.
“Drawing upon the severe lessons of the financial crisis, Asian economies have become much more resilient to external shocks compared to the pre-crisis period, with more flexible exchange-rate systems, increased foreign reserves, reduced short-term debt and a demonstrated commitment to ongoing reforms,” Chino said.
At the meetings, Japan reached agreements with South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand to lend billions of U.S. dollars to shore up their own currencies if they suffer new setbacks.
The agreements were the first sign that an Asia-wide currency safety net proposed at bank meetings last year is beginning to take shape.
The deals came at a time when many of the stock and currency markets across the Asia-Pacific region are suffering sharp declines, partly as a result of the global economic slowdown, especially in Japan and the United States.
Japanese officials said they were negotiating similar currency swap deals with the Philippines and China.
U.S. President George W. Bush had been expected to attend the bank meetings as host, but he sent a written message instead, calling for “concrete, measurable results” from the bank and other regional lenders.
Bush’s long-distance advice followed the sometimes testy U.S. relations with the Asian bank under the Clinton administration. One U.S. official at last year’s meeting in Thailand called the bank structure a “hodgepodge” and showed reluctance to fully embrace bank funding goals.
O’Neill, in his opening address as head of the bank’s board of governors, elaborated on Bush’s advice to the bank.
“They also need to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their own lending through greater selectivity, better coordination with other lenders and more effective monitoring of performance,” O’Neill said. |
