thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
these areas. Are we --MR PRINCE: Time for one more?MR PERRIELLO: Sure. Last one.MR PRINCE: Okay. Last one.QUESTION: Okay. Hello. Im Emanuela Calabrini from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA. I went on a humanitarian mission to DRC like three weeks ago. And when we talked with a government official, there was real eagerness on their part to have a new narrative for DRC a narrative focused on economic growth, development, and not so much in this trap of perpetual humanitarian crisis. After all, its been 20 years of humanitarian protracted crisis. And also based on the fact that even the IMF estimates 9 percent GDP growth this year for the country. But when we talked with the civil society groups, of course there is concern that this economic growth is not trickling down to the people who need it the most. And our humanitarian partners in particular were concerned about 7 million people still in need of humanitarian assistance in DRC 243,000 refugees from the region in DRC, and then about 450,000 even more Congolese refugees in the region. So I think that what is important is also and thats what we noted also with government official is that no development can be sustainable if the needs of the most vulnerable people are not addressed. I think also on our side, as the humanitarian community, we are willing also to change the narrative. Because we believe that its important to have economic growth, and its important that we change that DRC changes, and we are happy to see the positive developments, but we definitely need to ensure that no Congolese is left behind.So Im very happy that one of the pillars of the roadmap is related to the durable solution for the displaced people. And I think a durable solution first, the involvement of the displaced, and also ensuring that security has reached those areas of origins, because IDPs dont want to return unless security is also (inaudible). So not really questions, but just to encourage you to continue with the work on durable solutions. Thank you.MR DJINNIT: Thank you much. We agree with you. I mean, you (laughter). (Applause.)MR PERRIELLO: So Ill just note, in closing, that the first of all, on the humanitarian side, we do have Burundian refugees right now. And understandably, the refugee crisis of Syrians is getting all of the headlines, and thats a very, very serious problem that deserves that attention. But we have over 200,000 Burundian refugees Rwanda and Tanzania, in and Congo as well; mainly Tanzania and Rwanda have taken in a huge number. UNHCR, we went to those camps, so thats very serious. DRC is trying to change the narrative. I think particularly some of their work on gender-based violence in the military and elsewhere is commendable, as well as some of the development around Kinshasa. And to just your last point, and this is what Ill close on, we share their deep desire to change the narrative, but changing the narrative has to be based on
the actual narrative changing. If over the next year and a half we see historic transitions of power, we see the constitution being respected, we see inclusive economic growth, no one will be happier than me to go and tell that narrative around the world to the private sector and everyone else. If were seeing a backsliding, whether thats closing of political space and repression, whether thats breaking of constitutions or outright violence, we cant spin that as being a new Great Lakes region. So this is that moment where we have a choice all of us, the international community, but particularly the people of the region whether were ready to give that new narrative so that we can go out and sell that narrative, because again, we all know the potential is just overwhelmingly positive if we can get on that track.MR DJINNIT: Maybe just a word in concluding is just my impression about the Great Lakes region. I have been following developments in the Great Lakes region since exactly I mean, as a representative of international community. I was following as my own national diplomat of Algeria, but as working for the OAU/AU since 1989. So I was part of all the developments and tragedies in the region in Africa in general and in the Great Lakes. And the most devastating conflicts took place in the region. We had the conflict devastating conflict in the DRC. This is the only country that there was a conflict that brought, for the first time in history in Africa, armies facing each other. Its the first time in history. We had conflicts but these we never had 12 armies from African countries facing each other on the DRC. And you had the genocide in Rwanda. And we felt bad as Africans and we felt bad as international community about that you could not prevent the genocide in Rwanda. That has changed the vision of Africa and the vision of the world that what you could do to the region.And then there was some progress. I mean, with all these war, the first war, the second war in Congo, in the DRC, the genocide, the Burundi crisis, (inaudible) crisis. I had been working with Mandela and Mbeki to try to put the pieces together, and then (inaudible) to the point and then and then I left the region for six years and a half because I was in West Africa and then came back.To be honest, the picture is quite different. And then I was meeting in Nairobi a few weeks ago with the Technical Support Committee preparing for the regional (inaudible), and yesterday somebody from Uganda repeated the same thing that was said by his representative in Nairobi, saying, remember five, six years ago we could not talk to each other; we could not sit towards I mean, together. And as we were coming here, we got the meeting between the ministers of defense of Rwanda and the DRC in Kigali and they sent a very promising agreement on finishing the business on
the M23 and the FDLR.So I believe that and then we have the corridors I mean, the various corridors which are very promising corridors for development in the northern, the southern, the central corridor which are I mean, driving the region towards economic integration. So we have the infrastructure in place. There is civil society vibrance (ph), civil society women, youth, willing to make a difference. So thats why I believe if the region manages well its election, its electoral process because unfortunately, elections divisive and destabilizing in if not handled wisely. When I say wisely, it means respect of the constitution, respect of democratic rules basic. Although we are learning democracy, as we are doing democracy in Africa, I think the region has huge potential.And then, again, again, remember I was obsessed by this picture of at the time when, from Angola because this is the Great Lakes to the DRC to Sudan, when they were one country, even the two now the two countries the three countries have never seen light so far. I mean, they have been always in turmoil. Angola, 20 or 30 years of civil war; Congo, they have not yet emerged from the war; Sudan is not finished with its problems. And yet theyre all linked together. This is really the Great Lakes and this is a powerful you cannot stabilize Africa if you cannot stabilize this pivotal region of Africa. That was my obsession when it was at the African Union. It remains my and Im glad that I joined the team that work now focused with the Great Lakes so that we could together, work together to make this region a potentially transformative region for the continent by stabilizing the region with the support of all. And they count on the women to make a difference (inaudible). Thats why I believe that the women are a strong pillar for the transformation of the region of the Great Lakes. Thank you.MR PERRIELLO: Thank you all very much. (Applause.)MODERATOR: Thank you all very much for coming. # # #WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015, 4:00 P.M. EDTNEW YORK FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, 799 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, 10TH FLOOR
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS DANIEL RUSSEL Good morning, and welcome to the Foreign Press Center. Were honored to welcome today Assistant Secretary for East Asian Pacific Daniel Russel. After the assistant secretarys remarks, well have a time for some Q&A. We do request that you state your name and media affiliation, and well also be taking questions from Washington, D.C. by a digital video conference. Thank you very much.ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Thanks. Well, hello, everybody. Its great to be back in New York, as always; Im a New Yorker. And hello to our friends and colleagues in Washington, D.C.Weve had a very busy and I think a very productive week here at the UN with the opening of theGeneral Assembly. Its been a productive series of days with respect to our diplomacy in the Asia Pacific region. The President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, top State Department officials, myself, have all been working here with our partners in Asia and the Pacific on the issues that are of greatest concern to the American people. And this reflects the continued evolution and vitality of the rebalance. Were addressing challenges and concerns thatmatter, frankly, to all of us. Let me give you, if I can, a quick snapshot of some of the work that weve engaged in. In terms of addressing global challenges, the President participated in several important leader summits and multilateral summits on peacekeeping, on countering ISIL and violent extremism. And theseare meetings that included the active participation and the significant contribution of a number ofcountries from the Asia-Pacific region. The peacekeeping summit, for example, included quite a few countries from East Asia and the Pacific who I think in aggregate pledged in excess of 10,000 peacekeepers and made very significant financial contributions.In the summit of the counter-ISIL and counter violent extremism members, countries from the East Asia and the Pacific region renewed their commitment to make progress, including and importantly, by engaging civil society, engaging religious leaders throughout the region and in undertaking projects. One thats under active consideration is the stationing of a messaging center in Malaysia, for example. And the goal is to try to give voice to those voices of moderation who need to be heard in the face of a flawed and dangerous ideology.On the regional front, the Secretary had a very productive meeting with the 10 foreign ministers from the ASEAN countries. This is a regular feature of what the Secretary of State does during UNGA, and its valuable in a number of respects. The Secretary and the foreign ministers were able to dig down on important issues like maritime security, particularly the situation in the South China Sea. They were able to discuss in some depth issues regarding the oceans and the challenges that will be taken up next week in Santiago at the Oceans Conference things like illegal and unreported, unregulated fishing; things like, of course, the big project that were all engaged in in the run-up to the Paris Climate Conference addressing global warming. And they also
were able to consult on the recurring problem of irregular migration the problem of migrants from Bangladesh and from Myanmar from Burma which the region dealt with earlier in the year in May, and which, unfortunately, it appears we may have to deal with yet again when the rainy season ends.We also held a meeting that I attended with Todd Stern, our special envoy on climate, and Ambassador Samantha Power, UN perm rep, with the foreign ministers and representatives of the Pacific Island states. These are nations with whom the United States has very close partnerships, but nations also that are most directly and grievously affected by the consequences of global warming. Theyre also important stakeholders in the global effort to preserve our oceans and to deal with the problems really regarding that Ive mentioned regarding illegal andunregulated fishing.There were a large number of trilateral meetings this year, and I think that reflects Americas support for a kind of flexible geometry of collaboration among countries that share important goals and common values. First and foremost is another session of the trilateral that the Secretary chaired with the Japanese and the Korean foreign ministers. This is one of the regular trilaterals. Its also one of the most important and one of the most productive. It allows for very close coordination among our closest allies in Northeast Asia. And it enabled the three ministers to compare notes and to consult closely on the issues regardingNorth Korea, particularly North Koreas continued violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, its ongoing efforts to develop nuclear and missile capabilities in defiance of those regulations1, and also the problematic human rights situation in North Korea as well. There wereother regional and global issues that the three ministers were able to touch upon. Theyre in regular touch, and I know that the two foreign ministers from Japan and Korea followed up with the next day with their own bilateral meeting. For the very first time, Secretary Kerry participated in a trilateral with both the Japanese and the Indian foreign minister. That focused, among other things, on the convergence among three of the worlds largest democracies, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. The vehicle for our closepolitical and security coordination on matters pertaining to East Asia is, of course, the East Asia Summit. And they were able to exchange views both about what the professionals call architecture the structure of interaction with ASEAN at the center, but also some of the issues that are high on the agenda of the East Asia Summit.At a slightly less exalted level, we held the trilateral meeting among Australia, Japan, and the United States what we call the Trilateral Security Dialogue or TSD which sometimes meets at the secretarial level, sometimes meets at my level, and on occasion meets at leaders level as well. This meeting included the participation of Ambassador Tom Shannon, the counselor of the State Department, who President Obama has nominated to succeed Wendy Sherman as our new under secretary of state for political affairs. So in this meeting and elsewhere,
Tom, whos not(1 The Assistant Secretary intended to say resolutions, not regulations. ).only a dear friend of mine but one of Americas most distinguished diplomats, was able to participate, and thats something that we value a great deal.I co-chaired a meeting with my Japanese counterpart and with the foreign minister of Mongolia, a U.S.-Japan-Mongolia trilateral. Here again, three important democracies and what I call Mongolias two best second neighbors third neighbors, I guess I should say. We were able to have a very, very fruitful and productive exchange on a range of issues there. And then lastly on the bilateral front, I joined Vice President Biden and others, including our Trade Representative Mike Froman, earlier in the week for a very valuable consultation with the Japanese prime minister, Prime Minister Abe, that allowed for a full discussion across a range of political and trade issues. And I joined, of course, Secretary Kerrys meetings. He had bilateral meetings with the Sultan of Brunei, an important TPP partner, a member of ASEAN, of course, and a good friend of the United States. He met bilaterally this morning with the foreign minister of Myanmar, Wunna Maung Lwin, and was able to get an update on preparations for the Burmese elections as well as consult on important issues like the irregular migration problem andhuman rights.Other U.S. officials Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken and a variety of others, including myself separately had bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers or the vice foreign ministers or, in some cases, the presidents of a number of countries in the region Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Laos, Malaysia, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands and in addition, I certainly had opportunities for contact, as I know did the Secretary and, for thatmatter, President Obama, with a number of other representatives from Asia.Now, theres a lot going on. We had a very productive week, as I said. This week comes directlyon the heels of the important, in-depth conversations that President Obama and other top officialshad with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, in Washington late last week. And were not slowingdown. Our Deputy Secretary, Tony Blinken, is leaving this weekend for consultations in Northeast Asia first in Tokyo, then in Seoul, then in Beijing. I will be leaving myself next week to go out to Malaysia for the senior officials meeting organized by ASEAN, in which Ill have a chance to meet not only with my counterparts from the 10 Southeast Asian nations but also counterparts from China, from Japan, from India, from Australia, New Zealand, the ROK the countries that are represented in the East Asia Summit. And one of the important things we will be doing is preparing for November, when our leaders, after having attended APEC in Manila, go to Kuala Lumpur for the EAS. We in October are alsopreparing in Washington for and elsewhere for visits: the visit of the Korean president, the visitof the Indonesian president. Were expecting consultations with our Australian counterparts at the secretaries level. Theres a lot on the agenda as pertains to
Asia, and with that, let me open the floor for questions.QUESTION: Thank you for briefing. I am Moeko from Tokyo Broadcasting System. I have a question on the trilateral meeting with Japan and Mongolia. Was there DPRK on the table to be discussed, and if so, could you give us a little bit more detail on what has been talked?ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Let me dip down into my memory bank, because we had quite a few we had quite a few meetings. I was recently in Mongolia, and I had bilateral consultations there and was able to discuss with Foreign Minister Purevsuren and other senior officials a number of regional issues, including the challenge that is presented by North Korea. If my memory serves me right, we may have touched on North Korea as a regional matter, but I wouldnt describe it as the focus.We talked about the challenges that Mongolia faces both strategically and economically. We hadan extensive discussion about how as major investors and economies, the United States and Japan can support reforms, can support the improved investment climate in Mongolia. We commended Mongolias just unremitting fidelity to democracy and discussed what the Mongolians do and how valuable we see it in democracy promotion around the world. Now, itllbe a long time before we see democracy promotion in North Korea, but unfortunately but we are seeing an important contribution made by the Mongolians, who stand as a great model of political reform with countries like Myanmar who are approaching their own elections and have a lot to learn from the Mongolians.QUESTION: Thank you.QUESTION: Sorry, just one thing. Thanks. Reportedly, United States and Japan, they are seeking Mongolia to be kind of mitigator in the North Korean issues. Is that true?ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: No. The United States and Japan each have our own respective channels for communicating with the DPRK. The problem isnt that we lack a vehiclefor communicating with the North Koreans. The problem is that the North Koreans refuse either to negotiate on the nuclear issue or to honor the commitments that they have already made in previous rounds of negotiations. Now thats not to say that there isnt a constructive role for Mongolia as a democracy, as a neighbor, and as hopefully a role model for the DPRK. But its not as its not as a mediator. Now, I know that President Elbegdorj visited North Korea some time ago, and I think theres great value in the direct if not blunt message that he conveyed, speaking as someone who knows, after an extended period of communist dictatorship, that reform both political and economic reform brings immense benefits and brings greater security. I hope the North Koreans were listening.QUESTION: Hi. Thank you. Thanks for coming to New York. Jane with China Sina News. First of all, yesterday in UN, Russia has trying to clear all the error from the U.S. on the accusation of the airstrike. How do you answer that people are saying that Putins military actionis a diversionary strategy to take attention away from Ukraine and could
it expect any sort of cooperation between U.S. and Russians on in Syria? And I have to ask about President Xis visit. Chinese ambassador noticed that each stop will have some surprises. Did you see the surprises from his visit, and or its all go under your predicted? Thank you.ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Well, on the first question, I will respectfully defer to my esteemed colleague, Admiral John Kirby, the spokesman of the State Department. Im not the official responsible for either Russia or Syria, so I dont have any light to shed on that.Ill also ask Ambassador Cui Tiankai to speak for himself as to what he had in mind in terms of surprises at each juncture.As someone who was actively involved in the preparations for the visit by President Xi, I can attest to the fact that we worked very hard to avoid surprises. And for that purpose, as did other officials, I traveled to China at the very beginning of this month, and I spent considerable time inBeijing meeting with the foreign ministry officials, various counterparts, talking through the agenda and working on the substance of what it is that we thought that the two leaders should be discussing in which meeting; what sorts of messages we thought it would be desirable for President Xi to articulate in his various public engagements; and the outcomes and deliverables, the results, the accomplishments that our respective agencies and bureaucracies had been working on that could be brought to conclusion and ratified by our two presidents.We got a lot done. In my view, the most important aspect of the consultations that our leaders held in Washington last Thursday and Friday was the opportunity for the two presidents to speak directly, candidly, constructively on the problem areas. The two sides worked hard on our differences, because we are not reconciled with simply agreeing to disagree. There are significant friction points in the interaction between China and the United States. Whether they are bilateral issues or whether they are global issues, those friction points need to be addressed forthrightly by both sides. On the issue of cyber, as you saw, the Chinese leader made very important commitments, and wehave now an expanded mechanism whereby we can pursue those issues and help to ensure by working together that those commitments are fulfilled. The Chinese president took home, I know, new and clearer awareness of the deep concerns on the part of not only the U.S. Government but also of the U.S. business community and the NGO, think tank, journalistic, and academic community about the possible impact that some draft legislation, like the NGO management law or other draft laws and policies, would have on our citizens, on our organizations, on our companies, and frankly, on the U.S.-China relationship. And as a result, it is certainly my hope that we will see our concerns taken into account in the way that the Chinese authorities treat U.S. companies and their proprietary information and technology and the way that journalists and academics and others are treated inside China.A third