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
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS