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PORT MORESBY (Reuters) – Leaders of economies in the Asia-Pacific region have been unable to agree on a statement at a summit Sunday in Papua New Guinea, due deep divisions between the United States and China on trade and investment.
Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O Neill, US Vice President Mike Pence, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, New Zealand Premier Jacinda Ardern reviewing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during the signing of an electricity agreement reached between Australia, Japan and New Zealand, United States for Papua New Guinea, at the summit of the APEC in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 18 November 2018. REUTERS / David Gray
"You know the two big giants in the room," Papuan-born prime minister to New Guinea Peter O'Neill told a closing press conference to determine the members of the party. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group (APEC).
Asked about the key issues preventing an agreement, O'Neill responded: "World Trade Organization and World Trade Organization Reform," but responded that this was not within the purview of APEC.
"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. "
A statement from the leaders was issued after each annual meeting of APEC leaders since the first in 1993, says the group's website.
As an APEC host, Mr. O. Neill said that he would issue a statement from the president later on Sunday.
US-China competition on the Pacific was also at the center of the meeting in Papua New Guinea, with Western allies launching a coordinated response to China's Belt and Road program, promising to jointly fund a project. Electrification and Internet of $ 1.7 billion in PNG.
Tonga, for their part, joined the Belt and the Road and got a postponement of payment on a Chinese loan, said a Tongan official.
US Vice President Mike Pence, after leaving Port Moresby, capital of PNG, drew up a list of disputes between the US government and China, one day after directly criticizing his program Belt and Road.
"They start with business practices, tariffs and quotas, forced technology transfers, theft of intellectual property. This goes beyond the freedom of navigation in the seas and concerns about human rights, "said Mr. Pence to the reporters who accompanied him.
PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato told Reuters that the multilateral trading system was the sticking point of the press release.
Pato also confirmed to Reuters that Chinese officials had seen him Saturday in the statement, adding that they had been denied because they had not made the "necessary arrangements" for a meeting, but also denied media reports that they broke into his office.
At a Pacific Islands forum in September, a similar dispute arose when the Chinese envoy asked to be allowed to address the forum before the Tuvalu Prime Minister.
Report by Philip Wen, Charlotte Greenfield and Tom Westbrook to PORT MORESBY, Michael Martina and Xu Muyu at BEIJING; Written by Jonathan Barrett, Colin Packham; Edited by John Mair, Robert Birsel
