China blames 'excuses' for APEC discord, as US ties sour again

BEIJING (Reuters) – The failure of the countries attending a major Asia-Pacific summit to agree on a communique resulted from certain countries “excusing” protectionism, a top Chinese diplomat said, in a veiled criticism of Washington that further sours China-US ties ahead of a meeting of the G20 nations

In Washington, a White House official rejected the Chinese line as “complete spin and propaganda” and said the standoff did not raise hopes for a positive meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 next week.

After months of bickering over trade, the disputed South China Sea and US support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan, Xi and Trump took a step back from the edge with an icebreaking telephone call early this month.

They expressed optimism about resolving their trade war ahead of the G20 in Argentina, but the past weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was marked by open disagreement between the United States and China over trade, security and which would be the better investment partner for the region.

For the first time, the gathered leaders failed to agree to a joint communique.

In comments on the Chinese foreign ministry’s website late on Monday, China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Wang Yi, said this was “by no means accidental.”

“It is mainly that individual economies insisted on imposing their own texts on other parties, excusing protectionism and unilateralism, and not accepting reasonable revisions from the Chinese and other parties,” the ministry cited Wang as saying, in an oblique reference to the United States.

“This practice caused dissatisfaction among many economies, including China, and it is obviously not in line with the consensus principle adhered to by APEC.”

On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said the United States, whose APEC delegation was led by Vice President Mike Pence, attended the summit in a “blaze of anger” and that China had not gone to “get into a boxing ring.”

On Tuesday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman added to the criticism of the failure to sign the communique.

“An individual member” of APEC would not heed other members and insisted on trying to add content “harming other countries’ basic interests,” trying to “put on a coat of legitimacy to its protectionist, unilateralist ways,” Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing.