Regret, yes, PH apology, no; HK case unresolved

Members of Hong Kong Journalists Association hold placards during a protest at the Philippines Consulate in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013. The association is protesting the treatment of Hong Kong reporters covering a regional economic summit in Indonesia, saying they were treated like a serious security threat by the organizers who barred them from the event after they shouted questions at Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who was only willing to convey an expression of regret but not the apology that Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying wanted. AP PHOTO/KIN CHEUNG

BALI, Indonesia—All that President Aquino was willing to convey was an expression of regret. The apology that Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying wanted never came.

That summed up the 30-minute meeting between Aquino and Leung on Monday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Bali.

The meeting came more than three years after eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bungled hostage rescue operation at Manila’s Rizal Park, where a Filipino policeman and a Chinese tourist guide were also killed.

The closest Leung got to an apology was an expression of condolences from Aquino, who was less than two months in office when the hostage crisis occurred in August 2010.

“But we do extend our sincerest condolences. Again, we expressed our deepest regret that it’s so contrary to how we treat visitors in our country,” Aquino told Philippine media on Monday night.

On whether Leung accepted the regrets, Aquino said: “He mentioned something like, ‘We recognize that in your culture personal fault is what you apologize for.’ I guess that’s the closest comment he actually delivered.”

Journalists kicked out

The meeting took place a day after a group of Hong Kong journalists were kicked out of the Apec premises for badgering Aquino with questions about the hostage incident.

That the group was shouting at him “didn’t seem right,” Aquino said.

“Wherever we go, we are expected to conform to certain norms of behavior,” the President said in light of criticisms that revoking the journalists’ Apec accreditation was tantamount to curtailing press freedom.

Aquino said the meeting with Leung produced a “clarification as … to why the perception of each side is such.”

“So we are working to put that behind us,” Aquino said. “I got the sense they really were sincere in trying to come to a solution to that incident.”

Different assessment

Leung gave a less positive assessment of the talks.

“The Philippine side, at the beginning, took the position that the matter has been resolved. I did not agree,” he told Hong Kong reporters.

“I believe, and I made the case to the Philippine side, that this matter, unless it is resolved properly, will continue to stand in the way of the normal relationships between Hong Kong and the Philippines.”

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China supported the Hong Kong government’s efforts to remain in close contact with the Philippines about the hostage incident.

A matter of cultures

Aquino told Leung that “in our culture, when we apologize, then it admits that we are at fault as a country, as a government and as a people.”

“And we pointed out that from our perspective, there was one lone gunman responsible for this tragedy,” he added, referring to dismissed Senior Insp. Rolando Mendoza, who hijacked a tourist bus and demanded reinstatement before he was killed.

Aquino said Leung cited the case of a ferry accident for which the Filipino police chief “apologized to the community even though he was not directly responsible.”

“That’s your culture … that’s your system,” the President replied. “But in our system, we cannot admit wrongdoing if it’s not ours.”

Journalists’ protest

A journalists’ association is, meanwhile, protesting the treatment of Hong Kong reporters, saying they were treated like a serious security threat by Apec organizers who barred them from the event after they shouted questions at Aquino.

The journalists from Now TV, Radio Television Hong Kong and Commercial Radio had asked Aquino if he would apologize to the families of the victims killed in the hostage incident.

Their questions were “placed on the same level as explosives and other fatal (devices) by both the Indonesian and Filipino authorities,” the Hong Kong Journalists Association said in a statement.

The reporters were banned from the event on Sunday, and the association said they were placed under surveillance.

“This development borders on the absolutely ludicrous and the so-called security threat concern is totally unacceptable,” the association said.

Zero tolerance

The Hong Kong News Executives’ Association said it was shocked by Apec’s actions and lack of respect for press freedom.

Col. Bernardus Robert, spokesman of the Apec Joint Security Command, said there was a zero tolerance policy for any threat.

“We will not tolerate any possibility, even small, of threats against the heads of state,” he said. Apec organizers, in a statement, said “this is not about press freedom.”

The journalists approached Aquino on the sidelines of the Monday meeting.

“Will you apologize to Hong Kong people for their real tragedy?” a woman reporter asked. “Will you give an answer? It has been three years,” she said.

Aquino did not reply to the questions. TV footage showed an Apec staff member telling the reporters: “You ambushed one of our visitors.”

Gatot S. Dewabroto, a member of Indonesia’s Apec Organizing Committee, said the credentials of nine Hong Kong journalists were revoked for behavior that was “excessive, disrespectful and disturbing the event.”

Apec retreat

At the end of the Apec meeting, Aquino left for Brunei to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and top-level meetings with eight other countries.

Aquino was the “lead discussant” at Tuesday’s economic leaders’ retreat on Apec’s “Vision of Connectivity in the Evolving Regional and International Architecture.”

Aquino expressed guarded optimism over the current global economic recovery.

“Recovery in the global economic front is happening, but it is not very robust yet,” he told reporters, echoing the sentiments of fellow leaders.

“It could still recede. There is still a tendency (for countries) to protect their economies, to put up barriers, which lessen economic activity further (and) will further stifle the reimproving economic conditions.”—With reports from AP and AFP

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