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(Repeat story released late Sunday, no text changes)
* Leaders fail to agree on a release for the first time in the history of APEC
* Meeting marked by opposing visions of the United States and China
* A US-led plan for PNG is seen as an alternative to the Chinese energy proposal
By Philip Wen, Jonathan Barrett and Tom Westbrook
MORESBY PORT, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Leaders in the Asia-Pacific region have failed to agree on a statement at a summit in Papua New Guinea on Sunday. for the first time in their history. .
Competition between the United States and China on the Pacific was also highlighted, with the United States and its Western allies launching a coordinated response to China's Belt and Road program.
"You know the two big giants in the room," Papuan-born New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told a closing press conference on the question of which of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group (APEC) disagree.
O'Neill, who was chairing the meeting, said the crucial point was whether the World Trade Organization and its possible reforms should be included in the leaders' statement.
"APEC does not have a charter on the World Trade Organization, it's a fact. These issues may be raised at the World Trade Organization. "
The multilateral trade order that APEC established in 1989 to protect is crumbling, China's assertion in the Pacific and US tariffs are weighing on relations in the region and dividing loyalties.
A statement from the leaders was issued after each annual meeting of APEC leaders since the first in 1993, says the group's website.
O'Neill said that as host of APEC, he would issue a statement from the president, although it is not known when.
US President Donald Trump did not attend the meeting, nor did his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
US Vice President Mike Pence was present in place of Trump.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived with great fanfare on Thursday and was celebrated by PNG officials. On Friday, he fanned the concern of Western countries when he met with Pacific Island leaders to introduce his "Belt and Road" initiative.
The United States and its allies, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, reacted Sunday with a $ 1.7 billion plan to provide PNG with a source of electricity and the Internet reliable.
PACIFIC THEATER
Wang Xiaolong, senior economic officer of the Chinese delegation to APEC, said about the impossibility of agreeing on a joint statement that it was "not about" 39, a point of blockage between two countries in particular.
Most members affirmed their commitment to preserving the multilateral trading system and advocated for a strong and successful WTO, he said.
"Frankly, we are at the very beginning of these discussions and different countries have different ideas on how to move this process forward," Wang said.
A diplomat involved in the talks said the tension between the United States and China, bubbling all week, erupted when the Chinese government's top diplomat, Wang Yi, objected at the retreat two-paragraph leaders of a draft document seen by Reuters.
One mentioned the opposition to "unfair trade practices" and the WTO reform, while another related to sustainable development.
"These two countries have fought so badly that the president has not seen the option of bringing them together," said the diplomat, speaking under the guise of anonymity.
"China was furious that the reference to the WTO blames a country for its unfair trade practices."
Pence said Saturday in a direct speech that US tariffs on $ 250 billion of Chinese goods would remain unchanged until China changed its habits. On Sunday, as he was leaving Port Moresby, the capital of PNG, he listed the differences between the United States and China.
"They start with business practices, tariffs and quotas, forced technology transfers, theft of intellectual property. It goes beyond the freedom of navigation in the seas and concerns about human rights, "Pence told reporters.
Mr. Pence also took a direct interest in Xi's belt and road initiative, saying that in his speech, countries should not accept debt compromising their sovereignty.
"We do not offer a compression belt or a one-way road," he said.
CENTER OF ATTENTION
The Belt and Roads Plan was first proposed in 2013 to extend land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment from China.
PNG, host country of APEC, is home to 8 million people, four-fifths of whom live outside urban areas and have poor infrastructure, and have been fascinated by the superpowers.
Xi opened a Beijing-funded boulevard, while Pence spoke in the PNG Parliament about a 400-year-old 400-year-old Bible he had played in the country.
Australia, a faithful ally of the United States, has for decades enjoyed a largely unparalleled influence among the Pacific Island States. China has recently turned its attention to the region with a multitude of bilateral funding agreements to often struggling economies.
PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato said his country did not need to take sides.
"For us, we welcome Chinese investment, we welcome US investment. Our foreign policy is to be the friends of all, the enemies of nobody. (Report by Philip Wen, Charlotte Greenfield, Jonathan Barrett and Tom Westbrook at PORT MORESBY, edited by John Mair, Robert Birsel)
