An Asia-Pacific summit yesterday endorsed a Beijing-backed route toward a vast free-trade area in the region, host Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said, calling it a “historic” step.
The APEC leaders’ meeting also saw a flurry of diplomatic activity, with Russian President Vladimir Putin — often criticized by the West — meeting his US counterpart, Barack Obama, and, separately, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
China has been keen to underscore its rising trade and diplomatic clout during the summit, which was held at a lakeside venue north of the Chinese capital, and Xi said the bloc had “approved the roadmap for APEC to promote and realize the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific” or FTAAP.
Photo: EPA / APEC / Xinhua
The Chinese president called it a “historic” step reflecting the “confidence and commitment of APEC members to promote the integration of the regional economy,” and symbolizing “the official launch of the process toward the FTAAP.”
The decision had been expected after lower-level APEC officials last week agreed to launch what they called a “strategic study” on Beijing’s plan that could take up to two years to complete.
The FTAAP would build on other initiatives including the smaller Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), but China’s firm advocacy of the plan over the TPP has added to Sino-US trade rivalry.
Besides accounting for more than 50 percent of global GDP, the 21-member APEC also makes up nearly half of world trade and 40 percent of the Earth’s population.
Obama, Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe respectively lead the world’s three biggest economies, while Russia is a powerful player in energy exports whose annexation of Crimea and support for Ukrainian rebels has sent relations with the US into a tailspin, with the West imposing sanctions on Moscow.
However, Obama held talks of about 15 to 20 minutes with Putin, according to the White House, with their conversations covering Iran, Syria and Ukraine.
The Russian leader also held a bilateral with Abbott, who has publicly declared his fury at the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July, killing 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Abbott’s office underlined that evidence has suggested a Russian-supplied missile from a launcher that was then returned to Russian territory was responsible, labeling it “a very serious matter.”
Abe stressed cooperation with Beijing after the summit, calling for the neighbors to press ahead with tentative efforts to put their deep hostility behind them after he met Xi on Monday.
“Japan and China, we need each other. We are in a way inseparably bound with each other,” Abe said. “Japan and China both have responsibility for peace and prosperity of the region and of the world.”
Washington has been pushing the TPP, which aims for a loosening of trade restrictions and embraces 11 Pacific Rim countries, including Japan, Canada, Australia and Mexico, while notably excluding China.
Some Chinese analysts and state media have framed the TPP as an attempt to check Beijing’s growing economic clout — allegations Washington dismisses.
Obama praised China for focusing attention on APEC’s role in eventually achieving the FTAAP, first proposed in 2006, but also reiterated the US’ priority was the smaller TPP.
“The many regional initiatives will contribute to the eventual realization,” he said. “We see our engagement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a contribution towards that effort.”
Xi hosted Obama for a private dinner last night at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, and they were to meet again today.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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