‘Entire world is worried’ after rancorous Asia-Pacific trade summit
World leaders meeting for Asia-Pacific trade talks in Papua New Guinea wrapped up a divisive, two-day summit Sunday after failing to agree on a group statement amid a widening rift in U.S.China relations.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said he will release a “chairman’s statement” in the next few days on behalf of the 21-nation gathering. O’Neill acknowledged that “the entire world is worried” about tensions between the two superpowers.
The struggle to find common ground did not bode well for a crucial meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for the G-20 meeting in Argentina at month’s end.
Trump was conspicuously absent from the Asia gathering, sending Vice President Mike Pence in his stead. Pence and Xi swapped barbs.
O’Neill said the talks broke down over language about the World Trade Organization. The U.S. has adamantly opposed the way WTO treats China as a marketdriven economy rather than one dominated by state-supported industries.
The same, sharp differences that have crippled trade between the two nations also made working out common language for a communique impossible, O’Neill concluded.
“There were two big giants in the room, what can I say,” O’Neill said.
In his speech to the group, Xi urged the business and political leaders to promote free trade.
“The world today is going through major development, transformation and change,” Xi told the group. “While economic globalization surges forward, global growth is shadowed by protectionism and unilateralism.”
Pence pitched that the United States offered nations in the region a better option for economic partnership and criticized Chinese “authoritarianism and aggression.” He said the U.S. seeks “collaboration and not control” and blasted a Chinese road-building program as forcing debt on poorer neighbors.
“We don’t drown our partners in a sea of debt, we don’t coerce or compromise your independence,” Pence said. “The United States deals openly and fairly. We do not offer a constricting belt or a one-way road.”