海角大神

This year's 聽of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation聽(APEC) wrapped up in Vladivostok Sunday, with leaders of the 21-member Pacific Rim group 鈥撀爓hich accounts for 40 percent of the world's trade 鈥撀爌ledging to as a buffer against a lingering global crisis and financial woes in the聽Eurozone.

The host, President Vladimir Putin, declared the week-long meeting a complete聽success. "We managed not only to preserve the continuity of APEC activities, but to set聽new horizons and most importantly give a positive signal to business circles," he told the聽final news conference Sunday.

But, in an odd aside, Mr. Putin managed to overshadow the event's serious聽achievements and add to an already huge compendium of Putin lore聽by likening Russia's聽citizenry to a flock of birds.

He was responding to a question about the overwhelmingly derisive public reaction to聽his televised PR stunt last week, in which he dressed up like an endangered Siberian crane, mounted a motorized聽hang glider, and onto their correct migratory聽path.

Among the multitude of jokes that spawned in the wake of that performance was TV聽hostess and opposition leader Ksenia Sobchak's jibe that actually "only 63 percent of the聽cranes followed him" 鈥撀爐he same percentage that voted for Putin in March presidential聽polls.

instantly lit up the Russian Internet, and will probably have commentators scratching their聽heads for at least the next few days: "Indeed, not all of the cranes followed me. Only the聽weak ones didn't follow," he said, leaving little doubt that he was working with Ms.聽Sobchak's metaphor.

"There are certain birds that do not fly in flocks," he went on. "They prefer to nest聽separately.... Even if they are not members of the flock, they are members of our聽population, and they have to be treated carefully 鈥撀爋f course, to the extent that this is聽possible."

Big plans for Siberia

Aside from that, Putin could rightly claim the Vladivostok summit as a major impetus聽for Russia's efforts to turn itself into a key economic and political player in the Far East.

Among other things, he pledged that Russia 鈥撀爓hich finally joined the World Trade聽Organization in August 鈥撀爓ill promote Asian free trade, build an array of infrastructure聽projects in Siberia to facilitate the flow of Russian raw materials eastward, and create聽road, rail, pipeline, and sea links that will make Russian territory the main corridor for聽trade between Europe and the Far East.

Russia has been upgrading the 6,800 mile Trans-Siberian Highway 聽鈥� which still exists聽largely in name only 鈥撀燽etween Vladivostok on the Pacific and St. Petersburg on the Baltic,聽so that it might eventually be open to heavy trucking. A couple of years ago Putin's聽predecessor Dmitry Medvedev put forward a plan to extend the Trans-Siberian Railroad听迟丑谤辞耻驳丑 North Korea to Seoul, making direct rail links聽between Europe and the Far East viable for the first time. And the Kremlin has ordered聽creation of a special northern military force, and construction of a $30-billion port on the聽Arctic Ocean in anticipation of an ice-free Arctic sea route聽over聽the top of Siberia, that is expected to open up in coming years thanks to global warming.

"We suggest using our country's transit potential to diversify regional and global聽supply chains and to create new, shorter, more profitable routes that will link the Asia-Pacific and Europe across both the continental regions of Russia and through the North聽Sea route," Putin said.

Tensions with Europe over gas

Putin also slammed the European Union for trying to drive down the price of Russian聽gas, using non-market tactics "as if it were still Soviet times."

In fact, the European Commission is investigating Russia's state-owned natural gas聽behemoth, Gazprom, for a variety of alleged "anti-competitive" practices, including unfair聽pricing policies.

"Europe wants to maintain political influence, but in such a way that we pay for it a聽little," Putin told APEC.

The key message out of the APEC summit was that regional economies need to step聽up cooperation among themselves in order to preserve their own dynamic growth and聽buffer themselves against the winds of recession and financial volatility emanating from聽Europe. "The events in Europe are adversely affecting growth in the region," the final聽communique said. "In such circumstances, we are resolved to work collectively to support聽growth and foster financial stability, and restore confidence."

They also promised to lower tariffs on environmental goods, enhance regional "food聽security" 鈥撀爐o protect against a feared surge in food prices next year 鈥撀燼nd step up聽measures to protect endangered animal species.

Putin meets Clinton

Meeting on the sidelines with Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US聽Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was hopeful that Congress will soon repeal the聽cold war era Jackson-Vanik amendment, which stands in the way of full trade relations聽between Russia and the US and has long been a major political irritant as well.

But the inevitable discussion of yawning US-Russia differences over Syria聽do not seem to have gone well. Russia wants the US to support a聽transitional deal that might keep embattled Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad in power while a聽new government, including opposition figures, can be formed. The Russians claim that Ms.聽Clinton and other Western leaders agreed to this plan at a Geneva meeting in June, and聽want the US to back it at the upcoming UN General Assembly.

But Clinton told reporters in Vladivostok there was no point in promoting a toothless聽scheme that Mr. Assad could easily ignore.

"We have to be realistic. We haven't seen eye-to-eye on Syria," with the Russians,聽she said. "That may continue. And if it does continue then we will work with like-minded聽states to support the Syrian opposition to hasten the day when Assad falls."