HONOLULU, HAWAII: The United States urged Asia to do more to stimulate growth to offset the eurozone crisis, ahead of a summit in which Washington is seeking to shape the rules for the emerging Pacific region.
Police sealed off Honolulu's usually laid-back Waikiki Beach as Chinese President Hu Jintao became the latest leader to arrive for the weekend summit that will be led by US President Barack Obama, a Hawaii native.
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, chairing talks on Thursday of finance ministers from the APEC bloc, said that the meeting was dominated by how to make growth more balanced and sustainable, given the crisis in Europe.
"Asian economies will need to do more to stimulate domestic demand growth -- so that they are both less vulnerable to slowdowns, such as the situation in Europe, and can continue to contribute to global growth," he said.
The 21 members of APEC, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, account for about 40 per cent of the world's population, more than 50 per cent of its gross domestic product and 44 per cent of global trade.
"While APEC economies are the most vulnerable to a global slowdown, they can also play the greatest role in contributing to the global recovery and establishing the foundations of strong, sustainable, and balanced future growth," Geithner said.
Europe warned Thursday that the debt crisis was dragging the region towards a new recession, as Greece chose a new prime minister to try to pull it back from the brink of financial disaster and Italy lurched into crisis.
In Honolulu, where Obama hopes this weekend to unveil the broad outlines of a landmark trade pact, there were signs of tensions between the United States and the Asia-Pacific's emerging power, China.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, previewing the US message for the summit of the 21-member APEC forum, said the region stands at a "pivot point" as it becomes "the world's strategic and economic center of gravity."
After noting that the post-World War II institutions between the United States and Europe had paid "remarkable dividends," Clinton said the time had come for "a more dynamic and durable trans-Pacific system."
Clinton insisted that the United States welcomed a "thriving China," saying it was not in either country's interest for Washington to try to contain the rising Asian power.
But the top US diplomat, who later held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, also voiced concern about Beijing's record both on human rights and the economy.
"We are alarmed by recent incidents in Tibet of young people lighting themselves on fire in desperate acts of protest as well as the continued house arrest of the Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng," she said.
"We continue to call on China to embrace a different path."
Obama on Sunday is expected to announce a tentative free trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with eight other nations -- Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
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