2023-11-13 06:22:01
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is hosting the annual APEC summit of world leaders this week for the first time since 2011. Leaders from the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum will meet in San Francisco to talk regarding how to strengthen trade and economic growth throughout the Pacific region.
But in reality, the most important event will be held separately from the summit: a face-to-face meeting between the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and the president of China, Xi Jinping. This year’s conference comes amid high tensions between China and the United States and global turmoil over the war between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Here’s a look at what APEC is and how it works.
APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It is a forum to promote trade, investment and economic development between nations on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
The group began with 12 members in 1989, but has since grown to 21 to include participants such as China, Russia, Japan, the United States and Australia. These member states are very influential and account for almost 40% of the global population and almost half of the world’s trade.
The annual leaders’ conference brings together heads of government and other economic and diplomatic leaders. Don’t expect a big Russian presence this year, as the country has become a political pariah as its president, Vladimir Putin, presses ahead with his invasion of Ukraine, and will have lower-level representation in San Francisco.
According to White House staff, the goal of this year’s meeting is to try to make APEC economies more resilient, especially in the face of growing climate challenges and following a global pandemic that killed millions of people and hit supply chains. supply.
The main event of the summit will be held in a parallel event: a meeting between Biden and Xi. The leaders have not spoken in person since they met last November at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Since then, many things have happened that increased tensions between the two superpowers.
The Biden administration shot down a Chinese spy balloon flying over the U.S. mainland this year. The Chinese government hacked the emails of the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo. The U.S. government has restricted the export of advanced computer processors to China and has pushed to offer development aid to other countries to counter Beijing’s influence.
Differences have also been exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing Chinese assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait. But representatives from the United States and China have met more frequently lately in an effort to defuse tensions. Still, the meeting between Biden and Xi is not expected to mean many changes in the trajectory of bilateral ties.
The forum has limited influence. It focuses on trade and economics. It has no military component and was not formed following a momentous event such as a war.
Technically its members are “economies,” rather than countries. That leaves room for both Chinese-ruled Hong Kong and self-ruled Taiwan to participate.
APEC’s strengths lie in its ability to get countries to work together on major initiatives and to facilitate business relations without binding agreements. Economists point to how APEC helped reduce tariffs and other barriers to trade.
But the commercial landscape is different now than when APEC began to operate in a period of more globalization. The US strategy has focused more on economic competition with China than on cooperation, although US officials continue to emphasize the importance of cooperation. Biden seeks alliances with other countries in the region to develop alternatives to imports of Chinese manufactures such as electronic equipment, machinery, furniture, textiles and other products.
Biden is also trying to draw attention to progress on the new Indo-Pacific trade deal, launched last year following former President Donald Trump withdrew from the more popular Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
The conference has had its challenges and moments of drama in recent years.
The group met virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The leaders did meet last year in Bangkok, but Biden was absent due to the marriage of her granddaughter and sent Vice President Kamala Harris in her place. Some APEC leaders interpreted that decision as contempt. Delegates from the United States and four other countries then left the room in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when Russia’s representative began to speak.
Chile withdrew as host of the event in 2019 due to massive protests. Last year, when Thailand hosted the summit in Bangkok, pro-democracy protesters questioned the legitimacy of the Thai prime minister, prompting police to fire rubber bullets into the crowd, wounding several protesters and a Archyde.com journalist.
This year there might be friction over the war between Israel and Hamas. The various nations attending have firm positions on both sides in the conflict. Normally, at the close of the summit some kind of joint statement is issued by all the countries, but that is not guaranteed this year, due in part to those differences.
There’s also some intrigue regarding the delegates: Taiwan will once once more be represented at the summit by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing co-founder Morris Chang. The 92-year-old businessman’s lack of a political position allows him to meet with world leaders without fear of repercussions from China.
Hong Kong, for its part, will be represented by Finance Secretary Paul Chan. Prime Minister John Lee, subject to US sanctions for his role in the political repression in Hong Kong, declined to attend, citing scheduling conflicts.
Additionally, a possible US government shutdown might loom over the conference. The government will run out of money on Friday if there is no budget agreement between Congress and the president. It’s a persistent reminder of political dysfunction in America just as Biden tries to tout American dependability. Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service on Friday lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to “negative” due to rising interest rates and political polarization in Congress.
THE FORUM FASHION
At the end of APEC summits, leaders often pose together for the so-called “family photo.” At the first high-level summit three decades ago, then-President Bill Clinton, who was hosting in Seattle, gave away leather jackets similar to those worn by American fighter pilots. He apparently wanted his peers to feel relaxed, and that created a tradition.
Since then, event leaders have posed together in batik shirts (Malaysia, 1998), Chinese jackets (Shanghai, 2001), ponchos (Chile, 2004), and ao dai robes (Vietnam, 2006). The Filipino barong tagalog, a semi-transparent, embroidered shirt made from pineapple fiber and silk, made its appearance at the 1996 and 2015 summits.
It’s unclear if matching attire will return this year. The last time the United States hosted the conference, in Hawaii in 2011, then-President Barack Obama dismissed the idea. A reporter asked if it had been eliminated because the tradition seemed too light amid the economic concerns of the moment.
No. Obama just thought it was embarrassing.
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