The leaders from the 21 countries represented at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit found a colourful welcome in Papua New Guinea, but the high-stakes trade conflict between the U. S. and China was spelled out in black and white as soon as talks got underway Saturday.
The leaders from the 21 countries represented at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit found a colourful welcome in Papua New Guinea, but the high-stakes trade conflict between the U. S. and China was spelled out in black and white as soon as talks got underway Saturday.
Before the leaders even gathered for their first family photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U. S. Vice-President Mike Pence gave back-to-back speeches to an APEC CEO Summit taking place in Port Moresby to coincide with the leaders talks — an audience keenly aware of how disruptive the hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs applied over the last year have been to global supply chains, at a risk to both investment decisions and consumer confidence.
Anyone hoping for a conciliatory tone from the U. S. in President Donald Trump’s absence was quickly disappointed.
“We hope for better, but the United States… will not change course until China changes its ways,” Pence told the CEOs.
Pence made no apologies, emphasizing instead the military and infrastructure investments the U. S. was making in the region — investments that compete with the now highly visible presence of China.
This strategic game between the world’s two biggest economies is evident in Port Moresby, the capital of APEC’s poorest country. Signs identify new infrastructure as “China Aid” and advertise the “co-operation and peace” it’s meant to signal in both English and Mandarin.
The road to Papua New Guinea’s seat of government is newly paved by the Chinese. A Chinese investment also helped build the Hilton Hotel where the APEC leaders enjoyed their gala dinner Saturday night.
Pence tried to portray what the U. S. is doing in the region as more honourable than the Chinese initiatives.
“We have a principled approach that stands in stark contrast to other nations,” he said, saying others offer opaque loan terms for unsustainable projects that come with strings attached.
“Do not accept foreign debt that compromises your sovereignty,” Pence warned. “Be just like America, and put your country first.”
“We don’t offer constricting belts or a one-way road,” the American leader said, in words chosen to reference a centrepiece of Chinese foreign policy: its “belt and road” initiative to build land and sea infrastructure that positions the massive Chinese market at the centre of trading networks across Europe and Asia.
