Programs Home | Climate Energy | Plutonomy | Silos | Rio+20 | False Solutions | Population | Post Capitalism | Technology | Archive Programs IFG PROGRAMS: ASIA-PACIFIC ACTION NETWORK Derail the Trans-Pacific Partnership No backroom deals for the 1% Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade” agreement talks resume this week in Dallas, Texas (May 8-18). Once again, negotiations will take place with the public locked out and the texts held in tight secrecy, meanwhile over 600 corporate “advisors” have regular access to the negotiating texts. On the table is a veritable smorgasbord of extreme new corporate rights to slam the 99%. Make a difference and sign the petition. ABC asks IFG about FoxConn, China's biggest exporter IFG's Asia-Pacific Program gets grassroots groups from around the region together to create coordinated responses to the coming crisis over corporate resource grabs and government war games.  US power is pivoting toward the Pacific to encircle China, and redefining this critical relationship involves many dimensions of peoples’ cooperation to ensure global peaceful sustainability. ABC-TV asked IFG last week to explain the bigger picture behind the growing controversy over labor practices by China's biggest exporter, FoxConn, the giant electronics manufacturer that produces high-tech items for Apple, Microsoft, Dell, and Hewlett Packard, among many others consumer goods.   ABC’s Nightline broadcast a nationwide show focusing on Foxconn’s operations, with a video brief to give viewers a broader background on the forces driving changes in Chinese labor practices, as well as the role of US companies, consumers, and campaigners for workers rights. Both Apple and Foxconn have recently received a great deal of pressure regarding poor working conditions and low pay within Chinese manufacturing factories.   IFG Executive Director Victor Menotti believes that this as well as pressure from the workers on the ground demanding fair pay and working conditions may be creating a basis for change. Menotti told ABC Business and Technology reporter David Louie that, “Within China, you have growing political pressure from below, from people who want better working conditions, not just better wages but to be treated more safely.  But also the foreign companies are getting pressured by their contractors here and by the consumer base here and campaign groups for labor rights here."   To watch the 3 minute ABC segment on Foxconn click on this link: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=8552986   IFG LAUNCHES NEW ASIA PACIFIC NETWORK AT MOANA NUI, HONOLULU IFG's new Asia-Pacific Program was launched in November 2011 in Honolulu. As co-producer of Moana Nui 2011 we hosted three days of public events (and marches) in opposition to the APEC/TPP trade agreement meeting of 21 heads of state, as they worked to divvy up the resources and lands of the region. ~ The teach-in and conference brought 80 scholars, activists, policy analysts, lawyers, labor union leaders, cultural practitioners, and artists who traveled from twenty Pacific Rim and Pacific Island nations. They argued against APEC and TPP, and against the ongoing militarization and colonialism in the Pacific, as well as environmental devastation from deep ocean mining and other projects. Finally, everyone joined in a Declaration in support of island nations’ and indigenous peoples’ rights to self determination. ~ Participants proclaimed they’d never seen an event with as many diverse cultures, nations and peoples focused on the Pacific, and the urgent need to generate a new movement. This is just the beginning. For more information on the Conference (including videos of all the speakers) and plans for the IFG Asia Pacific Network, CLICK HERE VIDEOS FROM THE CONFERENCE Victoria Tauli-Corpuz from Imi Pono on Vimeo.      Julian Aguon from Imi Pono on Vimeo. Mililani Trask from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Kyle Kajihiro from Imi Pono on Vimeo. Christine Ahn from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Walden Bello - Keynote from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Joseph Gerson from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Anuradha Mittal from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Ray Catania from Imi Pono on Vimeo. Lisa Natividad from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Walter Ritte from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Richard Heinberg from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Jane Kelsey from Imi Pono on Vimeo.    Galina Angarova from Imi Pono on Vimeo.   Lori Wallach from Imi Pono on Vimeo.           (Peoples of the Asia-Pacific vs. APEC/TPP) MOANA NUI 2011 CONFERENCE (MOANA NUI means "BIG OCEAN") Join the Moana Nui Facebook Group This conference is a collaboration between The International Forum on Globalization (IFG) and Pua Mohala I Ka Po, Hawaii NOVEMBER 9 - 11, 2011 VIEW POSTER here PUBLIC EVENTS: Nov. 10, 8:30AM - 9PM Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave. Honolulu. (paid or street parking available) Nov. 11, 8:30AM - 6PM University of Hawaii, Hawaiian Studies Department Auditorium. (paid or street parking available) (NOTE: Nov 9. All day private gathering of Pacific-based indigenous practitioners/advocates at Calvary by the Sea. The purpose of this gathering is to begin producing a statement that will be developed through all three days of the conference.) For information, contact Katie Damasco 415-310-2931 or Eri Oura 808-255-1700 Please join IFG and Pua Mohala I Ka Po for a 3-day public conference and strategy meeting on the great emerging issues of the Asia-Pacific Region, and their effects on island nations of the Pacific, and countries of the Pacific Rim. (This event is scheduled at the same time as the momentous APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) meetings, with 21 heads of state in Honolulu, November 7-12.) THE APEC GOAL is to negotiate vast new globalization deals, and resource exploitation strategies within the Pacific region, with grave consequences for Pacific economic, cultural and political rights and sustainability. THE MOANA NUI CONFERENCE GOAL is to celebrate and confirm indigenous rights, economic and political self determination for island peoples, protection of Pacific resources and preservation of local economies, human rights, and long term environmental sustainability. We will broadly explore Asia-Pacific issues, including the impacts of globalization on Pacific island peoples, the degradation of the Pacific environment, the state of anti-militarization and colonialism campaigns throughout the Pacific, the battles over ocean resources, and the advancing geo-political struggles among Asia-Pacific countries (especially between U.S.-China) for hegemonic control of this region. Subjects the MOANA NUI CONFERENCE will address: Working for economic and political self-determination for Pacific island peoples; Actualizing the rights contained in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Advancing the resistance to militarization and colonization in the Pacific, with special focus on Guam, Okinawa, Jeju Island, and Hawaii; Explaining what is APEC? What is TPP? Exposing the impacts of globalization and proposed trade agreements in the Pacific, focused on the November summit of 21 nations; Exploring the great-power struggles for domination of the Asia-Pacific region, especially those between the U.S. and China, also involving Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, et al; Identifying the momentous resource competitions of the region, deep ocean mining and resource exploitation and developments; Asking what kind of economy do we want now—sustainability or exploitation? MOANA NUI PROGRAM SCHEDULE: PUBLIC PROGRAMS Nov. 10 & 11 (Subject to late additions and changes) ******************************************** NOTE: MEETING LOCATIONS ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY ARE NOT THE SAME SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE - Partial List: (Others to be confirmed) Bios - view here `````````````````````````````````````````````````````` THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, Church of the Crossroads 1212 University Avenue Honolulu ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` 8:30 AM Pule 8:45 AM WELCOME: Jon Osorio (Director Hawaiian Studies Dept, University of Hawaii); Victor Menotti (Executive Director, Int’l Forum on Globalization) 9-10:00 AM REPORT-BACK, AND UP-DATE ON PROCEEDINGS FROM PRIVATE GATHERING OF PACIFIC ISLAND PEOPLES 10-10:30 AM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: KEYNOTE: Walden Bello (Philippines) Member, House of Representatives, Philippines, Akbayan (Citizens' Action Party), Senior Analyst, Focus on the Global South Jon Osorio (Hawaii), Director of Hawaiian Studies University of Hawaii, Manoa Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot, Philippines) Tebtebba Foundation Former Chairperson, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Walden Bello (Member, Philippines House of Representatives, Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party; Senior Analyst, Focus on the Global South; co-author The American Lake) 10:30-1 PM PANEL: NATIVE RIGHTS, ECONOMIES, GOVERNANCE-RESISTING GLOBAL POWERS Passage of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), coupled with advancing decolonization movements among Pacific Islands peoples, has altered the political geography of Moana Nui.  Nonetheless, Pacific Rim economic powers and multi-national corporations continue to dominate our regions.  Global trade negotiations in APEC/TPP bring new dangers, as “economic integration” among powerful nations threatens to crush indigenous and small island peoples’ work toward strengthened control. This panel features key leaders from Oceania who have worked to restore Native peoples’ control and management of local resources and economies.  They discuss strategies for defending our rights and resources from exploitation. Nalani Minton (Hawaii) Representative, Int'l. Peoples Tribunal Mililani Trask (Hawaii) Vice Chair, General Assembly of Nations, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organizations (UNPO) Santi Hitorangi (Rapanui) Social Activist, Rapanui Cultural and Political Knowledge Practitioner PRESENTERS: Jon Osorio (Center for Hawaiian Studies, Pua Mohala I Ka Po); Nalani Minton (Representative, Int'l. Peoples' Tribunal) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Igorot, Tebtebba Foundation, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Philippines); Mililani Trask (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization [UNPO] Hawaii); Santi Hitorangi (Social Activist, Cultural and Political Knowledge Practitioner, Rapanui); Julian Aguon (Attorney, Anti-Colonial Activist, Guahan); Joshua Cooper (UN Human Rights activist, Hawaii) (Followed by Open Discussion with Audience) 1:00-2 PM: LUNCH (Provided by Church of the Crossroads)   Julian Aguon (Guahan) Indigenous Chamoru Activist, Attorney, and Author Joshua Cooper (Hawaii) UN Human Rights Activist Kyle Kajihiro (Hawaii) DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina 2-5:30 PM PANEL: MILITARIZATION & RESISTANCE IN THE PACIFIC The Pacific basin has been a frequent victim of military domination by global powers, fighting for regional political and economic control. 66 years after the end of World War II hundreds of U.S. military bases still spread from Hawaii across the Pacific to Guam, and many other Pacific islands, with dozens more in South Korea and Japan, and one on Diego Garcia (Indian Ocean), all directed at presumed threats from China. Local peoples are outraged. Popular resistance in Guam, Okinawa-Japan, Jeju Island-South Korea, and elsewhere demands removal of U.S. occupying forces. Similar movements exist in Hawaii, where about 25% of total land area is devoted to military purposes, from nuclear ports to training areas to missile sites. Ikaika Hussey (Hawaii) Publisher, Hawaii Independent Craig Santos Perez (Guahan) Chamorro, Poet, Author, Activist Christine Ahn (South Korea) International Peace Activist PRESENTERS: Ikaika Hussey (Publisher, Hawaii Independent, Oahu); Craig Santos Perez (Chamorro, Poet, Author, Activist, Guahan); Christine Ahn (International Peace Activist, South Korea); Suzuyo Takazato (Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, Okinawa); Lisa Natividad (Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice); Kyle Kajihiro (DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina); Bruce Gagnon (Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine); Mayumi Oda (Artist, Peace Activist, Japan/Hawaii) (Followed by Open Discussion with Audience) 5:30 PM BREAKOUT ROOMS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSIONS 6:00 PM DINNER AVAILABLE 6:30 PM PASSIONISTAS! UNDRESSING GLOBALIZATION AND MILITARISM FASHION SHOW Suzuyo Takazato (Okinawa) Co-Chair, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence Dr. Lisa Natividad (Guahan) University of Guam Bruce Gagnon (US) Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space ************************************************************ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 Hawaiian Studies Department Theatre University of Hawaii 2645 Dole Street, Honolulu ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` 8:30 AM Pule 8:45-11:00 AM PANEL: GLOBALIZATION, DEVELOPMENT & GEOPOLITICS Economic globalization seeks to homogenize (globalize) diverse regional economies within a unified vision of how we should all live; a vision that suits global corporate purposes, rather than local needs, traditions, visions, cultures, workers and environments. Negotiations like Apec/TPP intend for Pacific Rim and Pacific Island nations to merge within one integrated economic machine. NAFTA of the Pacific! It’s our challenge to learn the full details of what’s at stake, how life will change, how our economies will change----The role of resource, military, tourist and energy development. What is gained, what is lost? And if we don't want it, how do we organize to protect ourselves, our lands, resources, and local sovereignties. Mayumi Oda (Japan/Hawaii) Artist, International Peace Activist Jerry Mander (US) Founder, Distinguished Fellow, International Forum on Globalization Adam Wolfenden (Australia) Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG) PRESENTERS: Jerry Mander (Int’l Forum on Globalization, San Francisco); Adam Wolfenden (Pacific Network on Globalization, PANG, Australia); Joseph Gerson (American Friends Service Committee, Boston); Yumi Kikuchi (Peace activist, author, Japan); Anuradha Mittal (Oakland Institute, India/US); Ray Catania (Labor organizer/Hawaii Gov’t. Employees Association, Kauai); Dale Wen (IFG China Scholar, Beijing-Hamburg) (Followed by Open Discussion with Audience) Dr. Joseph Gerson (US) Author, Director of Programs, American Friends Service Committee Yumi Kikuchi (Japan/Hawaii) International Peace and Anti-Nuclear Activist Anuradha Mittal (India/US) Oakland Institute 11:00 AM-1:15 PM PANEL: PACIFIC RESOURCES, LANDS, ECONOMIES As elsewhere on Earth, the Pacific faces environmental crises from overdevelopment, resource scarcities, climate change, rising seas, destruction of coral reefs (for military ports and mining), loss of arable soils, and other challenges, threatening local communities. Powerful nations of the Asia-Pacific are fiercely competing for regional resources: oil and gas in Indonesia, fish stocks and minerals from the seas, “rare earths” from China, while diminishing fresh water and agricultural lands are torn between local needs, industrial biotechnology, military dominance, and tourism. Trade and investment negotiations like Apec/TPP further threaten the already tenuous hold of small island nations and peoples on their economic and cultural viability. How do we organize together to resist this and regain control? Ray Catania (Hawaii) Labor organizer/Hawaii Gov’t. Employees Association Dale Wen (China/Germany) IFG China Scholar Arnie Saiki (Hawaii)  Coordinator, Moana Nui PRESENTERS: Arnie Saiki (Research Director-Statehood Hawaii/'Imipono Projects, Coordinator, Moana Nui); Albie Miles (UC Berkeley, Sustainable Agriculture); Richard Heinberg (Post Carbon Institute, author The End of Growth); Walter Ritte (Anti GMO/Hawaiian Rights activist, Molokai); Galina Angarova (Pacific Environment, Russia/Siberia/Mongolia); Peter Apo (Trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs) (Followed by Open Discussion with Audience)   Richard Heinberg (US) Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute Author, "The End of Growth" Walter Ritte (Hawaii) Anti-GMO Activist, Molokai Galina Angarova (Russia/Siberia/Mongolia) Pacific Environment 1:15 PM-2PM Lunch 2:00-5PM PANEL: APEC & TPP: WHAT WE MUST KNOW; WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Everything we have mentioned in the descriptions of the above panels, will be directly effected by negotiations in Apec and TPP. Local sovereignty, militarization and colonization, forms of development, control and ultimate ownership of resources, worker rights, investment protocols, energy and resource battles are all directly implicated in the grand bargain sought by great powers and their corporations. We need to learn every detail of these agreements, and their import. And we need to determine what, exactly, we can do about it. PRESENTERS: Victor Menotti (Int’l Forum on Globalization); Lori Wallach (Public Citizen, Wash. DC); Jane Kelsey (Prof. of Law, Univ. of Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand) Walden Bello (Philippine Legislature, Focus on Global South); Yasuo Kondo (People's Action Against TPP, Japan) Peter Apo (Hawaii) Trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Albie Miles (US) UC Berkeley, Sustainable Agriculture Lori Wallach (US) Public Citizen 5-6PM MODERATED PUBLIC DISCUSSION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS AND AUDIENCE 6-6:30PM SUMMARY REMARKS, AND CLOSING Declaration: Jon Osorio Closing: Jerry Mander       RELATED ARTICLES AND VIDEOS: Jane Kelsey (Aotearoa/ New Zealand) Prof. of Law, Univ. of Auckland; Author of "TPPA - No Ordinary Deal: Unmasking the Trans-Pacific partnership free Trade Agreement" Victor Menotti (US) Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization Yasuo Kondo (Japan) Peoples Action Against TPP Moana Nui Speakers Say APEC is 'Colonization Today in Real Time' By Honolulu Civil Beat APEC 2011 Hawaii - Survival Guide By Honolulu Civil Beat Moana Nui Speaker Challenges People to Examine APEC More Closely By Jon Letman Information on APEC's Impact on City Services in Honolulu Free Trade Think Tank Argues for TPP Leaked Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement Texts Reveal U.S. Pushing Extreme Pharmaceutical Corporation Demands that Would Undermine Consumers’ Access to Affordable Medicine By Citizens Trade Campaign Guam central to Pacific military operations By Paul C. Barton America's Pacific Century By Hillary Clinton Opposing paradigms converge on Hawaii By Jon Letman (Al Jazeera) As the U.S. military shifts toward the Asia Pacific, budget cuts make Hawai’i expansion plans uncertain By William Cole Military projects run the gamut By William Cole The Kauai-Jeju Connection: the Aegis Missile By Koohan Paik                        Labor Day Showdown: Can Advocates Stop ‘NAFTA of the Pacific’ By Michelle Chen UNDRIP Fact Sheet pdf Peace and Justice for Guam and the Pacific Hawai’i Statehood and the APEC investment regime By Imi Pono Projects Sakhalin: Russia's East Asia trump card By Jon Letman Trans-Pacific Partnership talks likely to be completed by year-end ANDINA Naval Base Tears Apart Korean Village By Christine Ahn Island’s Naval Base Stirs Opposition in South Korea By Choe Sang-Hun (NY Times) Filipino lawmakers visit disputed isle, defy China By Jim Gomez (Associated Press) Capital is a Fickle Lover By Walden Bello Koohan Paik (Hawaii) Film maker; Kauai Alliance for Peace & Social Justice; Co-Author, "The Superferry Chronicles" Terri Keko’olani (Hawaii) DMZ Hawaii Videos: First Friday TV: "What You Haven't Heard About APEC" with Jon Osorio and Victor Menotti   Making Waves Video with Victor Menotti on APEC Hawaii 2011 Noam Chomsky video interview on the Gangjeong village struggle Interview by Shin Eun-Jung         Programs Home | Climate Energy | Plutonomy | Silos | Rio+20 | False Solutions | Population | Post Capitalism | Technology | Archive Programs