Apec tensions boil over
> Chinese delegates ‘try to barge in’ to PNG foreign minister’s office
PORT MORESBY: The police were called when Chinese officials attempted to “barge” into the office of Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister, it emerged yesterday, as Apec summit tensions boiled over.
The Chinese delegates “tried to barge in” to Rimbink Pato’s Port Moresby office on Saturday, in an eleventh-hour bid to influence a summit draft communique, but were denied entry, three sources with knowledge of the situation told AFP.
“Police were posted outside the minister’s office after they tried to barge in,” one source privy to summit negotiations told AFP, requesting anonymity.
The diplomatic incident came with tensions already high at a summit of AsianPacific leaders that has been overshadowed by a spat between the US and China.
Pato had refused to meet the delegates, according to a source, who said: “It’s not appropriate for the minister to negotiate solo with the Chinese. The Chinese negotiating officials know this.”
The minister himself sought to downplay the incident, telling AFP: “There wasn’t an issue.”
Asked about the incident, Chinese foreign ministry official Zhang Xiaolong told reporters: “It’s not true. It’s simply not true”.
Zhang also said Apec leaders have failed to agree on a joint declaration at the end of their two-day summit.
“The leaders agreed that instead of a traditional leaders’ declaration, they would leave it to the hands of PNG as the chair to issue a chair statement on behalf of all the members to capture the consensus.”
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted there were “different visions on particular elements with regard to trade that prevented full consensus on a communique document”.
This is not the first time Chinese officials have been involved in a tense incident at a regional meeting.
At the Pacific Islands Forum in September, Nauru’s President Baron Waqa demanded China apologise after its delegation walked out of a meeting when the host refused to let an envoy speak until island leaders had finished.
“They’re not our friends. They just need us for their own purposes,” Waqa said. – AFP