Asia-Pacific leaders yesterday failed to bridge gaping divisions over trade at a summit dominated by a war of words between the US and China as they vie for regional influence.
For the first time in the group’s history, APEC leaders were unable to agree on a formal written declaration amid sharp differences between the world’s top two economies over the rules of global trade.
“You know the two big giants in the room. What can I say?” host and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said, conceding defeat.
Photo: AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the failure came down to “different visions on particular elements with regard to trade that prevented full consensus.”
A US official familiar with the talks said China balked at some language related to trade. At issue was a pledge by the governments to fight “all” unfair practices, which China objected to including in the statement, said the official, who asked not to be identified as the discussions were private.
The 20 other nations endorsed the language, the official said.
O’Neill indicated that the WTO had been a sticking point in agreeing on a joint communique.
“APEC has got no charter over the World Trade Organization. That is a fact,” he said. “Those matters can be raised at the World Trade Organization.”
O’Neill denied it was a humiliation for his country, which was hosting the annual gathering of the 21 nations for the first time. He said a formal APEC statement would be released at a later date.
As tensions boiled over, police were called when Chinese officials attempted to “barge” into the Papua New Guinean foreign minister’s office on Saturday in an 11th-hour bid to influence the summit’s communique, three sources with knowledge of the situation said.
“Police were posted outside the minister’s office after they tried to barge in,” one source said on condition of anonymity.
The minister had refused to meet with the delegates, another source said, adding: “It’s not appropriate for the minister to negotiate solo with the Chinese. The Chinese negotiating officials know this.”
The minister yesterday tried to downplay the incident, telling reporters “there wasn’t an issue.”
However, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Wang Xiaolong (王小龍) denied the incident occured, telling reporters: “It’s not true. It’s simply not true.”
Even before the summit started, tensions between the two big hitters came to the fore with US Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) crossing swords in competing speeches.
“I spoke to President Xi twice during the course of this conference. We had a candid conversation,” Pence told reporters yesterday.
He told him the US is interested in a better relationship with China, “but there has to be change” in Beijing’s trade policies.
With fears that a trade war between the two rivals could cripple the Pacific Rim economy, some attendees voiced concern about the growing rivalry for influence.
“Business leaders do not want to speak out, but behind the scenes here, they are talking over dinner saying: ‘How has this happened?’” Digicel chairman Denis O’Brien said. “It’s a very forced situation, one country is trying to force all the other countries to change tariffs agreed over years.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS