CINA

A FINAL (?) STATEMENT BEFORE THE BATTLE (??)

"...there is growing skepticism over the role of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, experts say", so the International Herald Tribune 11.14. " APEC is balanced on the brink of terminal irrelevance," said the Australia-based Lowy Institute for International Policy in a report issued in time for this week's summit," the article continued... "Public awareness about APEC, even among the bureaucracies of its members and in areas APEC addresses, is slight."

Outside of the region, for example in Europe, no one (the media, rightwing, liberal - a.k.a. the bourgeois ?but also not the so-called left..) is really informed... and not really interested.

First of all they don't know what is really going on in the Far East. For instance the German state runned TV station ARD presented the annual National Workers Rally last Sunday as an Anti-APEC demonstration.

The farmers demonstration on Tuesday they presented as an Anti-USA protest and today's leading magazine Der Spiegel wrote: "On the APEC summit in Japan..." (even they don't know where the summit take place)

On the other hand no one - politicians, the media ?see any relevance about the APEC summit. The most of the media is just not reporting about it and if then just like that: "An APEC summit about the bird flu...", the German TV station ARD said.

On 11.14 I found the first articles in the international press about the APEC summit (International Herald Tribune and NEWS.com.au). But both are not expecting any sensful result... just "strong words in the final declaration". That's all...

IN FACT: APEC SUMMIT IS NOT A DECISION MAKING MEETING, NOT AT ALL!

But many of the activists at home (...harhar, S. Korea) seems to see this summit as one of the most important events in this century. They compare it with Cancun, or with the Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata. But as ascertained the APEC has no relevance, not at all - "a summit about the bird flu..."!!!)...

On the other hand many activists <"The South Korean government should take a lesson from the case of the Summit of Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina last week that 'failed to come to agreement due to strong protests from the South American people against the U.S. and U.S. President George Bush,' the statement (of the Korean Peasants League) said. Otherwise the peasants will wage a 'strong battle' on Friday 'shoulder to shoulder with other civic groups' to stop the APEC summit...", Korea Times wrote on 11.13> perhaps are confused about the role of the different participants, for example in Mar del Plata. The street "battles" - definetely - were not the reason why the summit failed... it was the opposition of the governments of Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina...! And - please remember - this summit was a decision making meeting...

Finally the only thing what we (harhar... YOU!!!) can do in Busan: Set up a sign that not everyone in the society is collaborating with the idea of the capitalist globalization. What we must fight for is the our own globalization, a globalization for the common people, a globalization from below!

And of course, if we (...YOU!!) have the power, the masses, we can - possibly - grievous disturb their meeting or even SMASH it!! (...aeh~ it's just a idea...)

LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER FOR A WORLD

WITHOUT EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION!!

Please check out the documentary here (Chamsesang/Jinbonet):

Today, four years ago, it was a Friday, I watched the first time with the new Korean acquaintance a movie (during PIFF 2001). Chicken Rice War, a production from Singapore.

Actually the movie was just a kind of entertainment... But short before I saw a trailer to the movie and so I wanted to see it... just because of the Chinese dialoges, because never before I saw a movie in original Chinese language (in German I saw all Chinese movies in English with bad sound or with German synchronisation).

Later in the night there was a small coming together with friends and some movie people, the director of Chicken... was also hanging around there for a while, but at least, after the new Korean acquaintance had to leave us (the next day in the morning she?d to go back to Seoul by bus ...but of course I had to promise to call her "immediately" - she ordered me - when I would be back in Seoul) it was more boring for me and I even was not in the mood to drink more soju...

It?s very interesting, but outside of S. Korea till now nobody is talking or writing about the APEC summit in Busan... neither in the Straights Times (Singapore), South China Morning Post (HK), Xinhua (China), nor in the USA (LA Times), or the South American progressive independent media, such as Indymedia Chile.

But there is a struggle between pro and contra inside the S. Korean activist scene. "It is an important opportunity for Pusan (Busan) to thrive as an international city. The opponents of APEC are ignorant of the enormous economic profit and the invisible benefits...", (bourgeois Korea Times quoted on Nov. 13). This is of course complete bull sh..., because Busan is a international city already, but more international it will never become. Because Busan is a city which lifes just from the industry and infrastructure, that?s all (of course not to forget from the daily labor of the workers there...).

But also, in my opinion, the concentration of the "progressive" movement in S.K. against the APEC summit is wrong, because the APEC has no meaning, neither political, nor economical, because APEC is "... a more lame (impotent) poppycock dump (shack) as even the ASEAN" (S. P. Huntington in: The Clash of Civilizations, N.Y. 1996). And still there is nothing changed... (as I know).

If someone have other opinions... Please, I?m ready to listen...

Today is also an article in Korea Herald about the preparation of the farmers unions for Nov. 18. But because this will be a longer story, I will write about it tomorrow, coming night, or so..

The last night four years ago, it was the night (before in the daytime I watched movies on PIFF and I met several times the woman who was running away the night before because of f... Kim Ki-duk... we had some coffee together and the first very interesting conversations without any soju or other stuff like that.) from Thursday to Friday, actually was a typical Korean style night.

First I met with the same person and we had some funny meetings with Korean students who wanted to make interviews with me... that was just for to improve their English, a job just for their school. Later we went with a Korean woman and her German friend to a Chinese restaurant. After we successful finished this first step we met other Korean, German Dutch and Finish friends and the funny part started...

Actually this was my first night in S. Korea like I had later (perhaps) thousand times more. But for the first ? but of course not for the last - time I was really impressed... And slowly PIFF went to it end, just two days more for us were left...