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From hush-hush to bla-bla |
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July 19, 2000
WASHINGTON (AP) - Almost lost in the shadow of the hush-hush Mideast talks at Camp David, a dramatically different summit awaits U.S. President Bill Clinton this week. This one, beginning Friday on the Japanese island of Okinawa, is Clinton's splashy farewell at the annual gathering of the world's richest nations. Unlike the secrecy-wrapped summit at Camp David, Okinawa will have plenty of photo ops, festivities and news briefings where officials will be eager to talk about what's going on. Given the state of America's booming economy, the White House is happily drawing a contrast between Clinton's first summit in 1993 and his final bow this year. "In 1993, the president was the new guy on the block with a weak U.S. economy and growing deficits," said Lael Brainard, Clinton's deputy national economic adviser. "This year he returns as the senior statesman in the group, with a positive world economic outlook, the longest expansion in U.S. history and an established record on turning deficits into surpluses." When Clinton took office, the United States was expected to report a dlrs 455 billion deficit this year. Instead, the president can boast of a surplus totaling dlrs 211 billion. Clinton will join one last time with the leaders of Russia, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy. The biggest question is whether the Camp David talks will end - or suspend - so that the president can leave on schedule Wednesday. "You'll know that we're following through on the schedule when you see the president walk up to the top of the steps (of Air Force One) and wave and the door close," spokesman Joe Lockhart said, briefing reporters near Camp David. Questioned further by reporters, Lockhart hardened his answer. "What I know is the president intends to get on a plane Wednesday morning to go and fulfill his requirements as an important leader in the G-8 (Group of Eight)," Lockhart said. Clinton will have one-on-one meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Miro. It will be his second meeting with Putin in about six weeks, following Clinton's trip to Moscow in early June when they disagreed sharply about U.S. plans for a national missile defense system. Many of the summit leaders in Okinawa share Putin's concerns about the proposed missile shield. For the first time, leaders of developing nations - South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand and Algeria - will take part in pre-summit talks with Clinton, Blair, Mori and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. They will meet Thursday in Tokyo to discuss sharing the benefits of the information technology revolution with people in poor countries to improve their economies, health care and education. On Friday, the summit of industrialized nations will open on Okinawa at a conference center built for the meeting. The talks will conclude Sunday. Okinawa is home for 26,000 U.S. troops, and there have been tensions over instances of criminal and unruly behavior by the American forces. In a gesture of respect, Clinton is to deliver a speech Friday morning at Okinawa's Cornerstone of Peace Park, commemorating the Battle of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest battles of World World II. Jim Steinberg, Clinton's deputy national security adviser, said the president will talk about the importance of good neighborly relations and at the same time point out that the U.S. troops make a major contribution to stability in Asia. Steinberg said that "any time an incident arises, it's regrettable and we do everything that we can to try to remove the causes of that. We want to have a relationship where there are never any incidents of that type." --- On the Net: G-8 Summit site: http://www.summit-okinawa.gr.jp U.S. Military posts on Okinawa: http://www.virtualokinawa.com/military/ White House briefing on summit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/library/hot-briefings/July-17-2000-1.html
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