APEC summit ends without joint statement amidst US-China discord


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At the annual meeting in Papua New Guinea, the 21 leaders of APEC all agreed, with the exception of China, CNN told a source close to the meeting.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Sunday night that trade disputes are blocking a final declaration.

"Visions differ on particular elements," Trudeau said.

China may be worried about a specific line on unfair trade practices, according to a US official involved in the negotiations.

The official said the most "problematic" line for the Chinese was: "We are in agreement to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices".

"They seemed to think that" unfair business practices "were a kind of singularity," said the manager.

"It's a little worrying that it seems that China does not really intend to reach a consensus," said the official.

The trade war between the United States and China was in the foreground in speeches made Saturday by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Vice President Mike Pence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address at the APEC summit summit in Port Moresby on November 17, 2018.

Xi spoke of the need for global cooperation and trade and said that any differences could be resolved "through consultation".

"History has shown that clashes, whether it's a cold war, a hot war or a trade war, would produce no winners." "said Xi, applauds.

But Pence said Washington would not quell the trade war with Beijing until it "changed its habits."

"China has been profiting from the United States for many, many years and these days are over," said Pence at the Port Moresby rally.

The Trump administration has levied tariffs on Chinese products of $ 250 billion since July. Customs duties on $ 200 billion of these goods are expected to rise from 10 percent on January 1 to 25 percent, further aggravating the conflict.

China has so far responded with tariffs on $ 110 billion worth of US products and is likely to react more if the US continues to rise in early January.

Pence has also hit China for loans to developing Pacific countries and beyond.

"The terms of these loans are at best often opaque. The projects they support are often unsustainable and of mediocre quality. Too often, they have conditions, which results in a dizzying debt … The United States is openly negotiating, equitably. offer a restriction belt or a one-way road, "he said, mocking the Chinese initiative" A belt, a road ".

The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized Pence for his remarks.

"Our advice for the country concerned is that instead of pointing fingers at others, it would be better to match his actions to his words and truly treat all countries, big or small, on a footing. equality, "said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in a statement. declaration.

"Not a single developing country has been bogged down in debt problems because of its cooperation with China – on the contrary, its cooperation with China has helped them to strengthen their capacity for autonomous development and to improve the livelihoods of their people, "Hua said of Pence's allegations. on loans.

American Admiral: 'Great Wall of the MAS & # 39;

Pence announced that the United States would partner with Australia and Papua New Guinea to develop a naval base on the island of Manus in Papua New Guinea.

This photo taken on November 7th shows the Australian warship HMAS Adelaide moored off Port Moresby.

Pence did not give details on the development of the base, but the announcement comes as Washington attempts to counter a large buildup of the Chinese army in the South China Sea and beyond. .

The attention of the region is focused on Port Moresby. At a conference held in Canada, the US Army commander in the Pacific accused the Chinese military of "a sustained campaign of intimidation towards other nations of the East China Seas. and southern "by strengthening artificial islands.

"What was a" great wall of sand "barely three years ago, is now a" great wall of SAM "(surface-to-air missiles) in the South China Sea," said Admiral Phil Davidson at the Halifax International Security Forum Scotia.

Davidson said the islands and their armaments gave Beijing "the potential to exercise national control over international waters and airspace, traversed by more than $ 3 trillion worth of goods transported annually, as well as commercial air traffic ".

China said its facilities on the islands of the South China Sea were necessary for the protection of its territory and criticized the repeated US naval and air operations near these islands.

"Some countries outside the region are unaware of China's steadfast opposition and are conducting reconnaissance in the name of" freedom of navigation ", denouncing military power, threatening China's sovereignty and the safety of Chinese personnel in power. , which could easily cause damage to ships and ships, air accidents and regional peace and stability, "said the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a statement sent to CNN in August.

But Davidson said it was China that was threatening sovereign rights with military intimidation.

"They are now violating the sovereignty of each country's ability to fly, sail and operate in accordance with international law," said Davidson.

Eric Fiegel, Steven Jiang, Ben Wescott and Chandler Thornton from CNN contributed to this report.

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