East-West Center in the News

(2011-11-06) "I didn't at all think we were a shoo-in. In fact, I thought we were a dark horse," recalled Morrison.

... "I thought maybe for the president himself to choose his native state would look like favoritism, so I thought that our bid had to be so good so that the bureaucracy would say to him, 'Our first choice is this," said Morrison.

(2011-11-07) "Nobody's building Genevas anymore, and hasn't for some time," said Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center.

But Morrison said Hawaii can be an ideal venue for events like APEC in the future and, with the right coordination and organizational execution, can help build important cultural and financial ties within the region.

Thinking of APEC as a one-off event - like hosting a Super Bowl or a national political convention - would be a missed opportunity, he said.

"It might be true that we kind of exaggerate its significance. But part of the real reason for making a big effort on this is that it's not just a one-off event; it's something for the future of this state," Morrison said.

(2011-11-09) Charles Morrison, East-West Center president and APEC host committee member, said that while Hawaii has been considered as a host site for intergovernmental meetings in the past, until APEC it has never really been considered for a head-of-state-level meeting, Morrison said.

"Hawaii is almost an ideal place for these sorts of meetings. If we do it well and like it, it's something that is a logical business for us and pretty value-added," he said.

Results will depend on the state's ability to follow up after the event, Morrison said.

(2011-11-09) Political scientist Christopher McNally of the East-West Center says the U.S. Congress would probably not approve the agreement if China were included, at least for now. But Vietnam has joined the talks, and he notes that Vietnam is making the same transition. He says APEC is a good forum to reach limited agreements that involve only some of the member nations.

"It's a venue where leaders can get together to discuss facilitation of trade, investment and other economic issues within the Asia-Pacific. But, agreements that are binding tend to be forged at a smaller level because it's very difficult to get all 21 economies to agree on one issue," noted McNally.

... Analyst McNally says American trade agreements are more complex than China's and typically deal with issues other than trade.

"They also include environmental standards, they include labor standards. The include also product standardization, things like that," said McNally.

He says Chinese agreements focus on such basic issues as reducing tariffs and quotas and harmonizing customs standards. -- Also appears in: Chosun Ilbo, Journal of Turkish Weekly, Middle East North Africa Financial Network

(2011-11-10) One of the center's analysts, political scientist Christopher McNally, says the APEC forum is a place for strengthening ties and sharing ideas.

"APEC is an organization that is driven by consensus. It is an organization that is very much collaborative and consultative," he said.

He says that means the important initiatives at APEC are often nation-to-nation. President Obama will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the summit.

-- Also appears in: Middle East North Africa Financial Network

(2011-11-09) The leaders of the 21 regional economies "do see freer trade flows as critical to growth and jobs," said Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center, a think tank in Honolulu.

"The main contribution APEC can make in the short-run is to restore the feeling that the leaders, ministers and central bankers of the major economies are indeed working closely together," he said.

-- Also appears in over 90 news sources