US President Joe Biden on Thursday made his government’s case to national leaders and CEOs attending the Asia-Pacific summit that the US is committed to high standards in trade and to partnerships that would benefit economies across the Pacific.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Biden declared.
Fresh off his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Biden told business leaders that the US was “derisking and diversifying” but not “decoupling” from Beijing.
Photo: AFP
However, he did not mince words in suggesting the US and friends in the Pacific could offer businesses a better option than China.
Biden also said that the US has invested about US$50 billion in fellow Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies this year, including in clean energy technologies, aviation and cybersecurity.
“This is not all kumbaya but it’s straightforward,” Biden said. “We have real differences with Beijing when it comes to maintaining a fair and level economic playing field and protecting your intellectual property.”
Biden sought to send a clear message about US leadership as businesspeople grapple with the risks of doing businesses in the midst of wars in the Middle East and Europe and a still shaky post-COVID-19 pandemic economy. He was also spending time Thursday letting Indo-Pacific leaders know that the US is committed to nurturing economic ties throughout the region.
Biden later posed for the traditional “family photo” with other leaders of APEC, which includes 21 economies.
Biden in his remarks to the CEOs sought to highlight his administration’s efforts to strengthen ties with the region. APEC members have invested US$1.7 trillion in the US economy, supporting about 2.3 million jobs in the nation. US companies, in turn, have invested about US$1.4 trillion in APEC economies.
Later, during talks with APEC leaders at a working lunch, Biden spoke about efforts funded by his Inflation Reduction Act to fight climate change and improve sustainability and clean energy infrastructure in the US.
“I encourage everyone around this table to also take strong national actions,” Biden said. “It will take all of us to meet this moment.”
The U.S. Has not hosted the annual leaders’ summit — started in 1993 by then-US president Bill Clinton — since 2011. The group met virtually in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. Leaders gathered in Bangkok last year, but Biden skipped the summit because his granddaughter was getting married, and he sent US Vice President Kamala Harris in his place.
The annual conference brings together heads of nations and other top economic and diplomatic leaders. Biden told those who gathered on Wednesday evening at a welcome party that today’s challenges were unlike those faced by previous APEC leaders.
Biden also sought to underscore that he was seeking to responsibly manage the US’ strained relationship with China one day after he and Xi sat down for more than four hours of talks at bucolic Filoli Estate outside of San Francisco.
“A stable relationship between the world’s two largest economies is not merely good for the two economies but for the world,” Biden said. “A stable relationship. It’s good for everyone.”
Demonstrations in and around APEC continued on Thursday. Hours before leaders were to gather at the Moscone Center for the summit, protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war were detained by police after shutting down all traffic over a major commuting bridge heading into San Francisco.
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