2023-11-13 07:59:43
On the occasion of a new Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, American President Joe Biden is receiving many allies this week in San Francisco, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders, who are calling for greater stability in their economic and political relations, are meeting for the first time since the G20 summit in Bali last year.
This will be their second meeting since Bali. The American President, Joe Biden, always keen to show leadership against Beijing, receives many allies during a new major summit this week, but also the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. Their meeting is scheduled for November 15.
From November 11 to 17, San Francisco hosts the 20 other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), created thirty years ago when American policymakers believed that vigorous trade would bring the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean.
This optimistic vision has had its day. Joe Biden’s administration offers only a limited economic pact to Apec and has spent recent months ratcheting up sanctions against China, seen as the main obstacle to U.S. supremacy on the world stage.
But both countries are calling for greater stability in their economic and political relations. And since a visit to Washington is politically unfeasible, Apec offers Xi Jinping a unique chance to see his counterpart on American soil.
The meeting of the two men, the first since the G20 summit in Bali a year ago, will take place on Wednesday. It should address a wide range of disagreements, notably over Taiwan, where elections in two months could trigger new tensions with Beijing, which claims this autonomous democracy and has not ruled out seizing it by force.
A US official expressed hope that the two heads of state would “open new lines of communication”, as the United States hopes to restore contact between the two US and Chinese militaries, seen as particularly vital in a crisis in Taiwan.
Allies
The United States is deploying significant diplomatic resources to reconnect with China, but on the other hand it is seeking to isolate Russia, a member of Apec, because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Washington has made it clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, is not welcome.
Moscow will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. He will be the highest-ranking Russian visitor to the United States since the start of the war.
In diplomacy, Joe Biden, unlike his predecessor and rival Donald Trump, focused on highlighting alliances, particularly via new formats such as the tripartite military pact with Australia and the United Kingdom.
U.S. allies at Apec include Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who visited both Washington and Beijing last month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President -Korean, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Before flying to San Francisco, Joe Biden will welcome outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo to the White House. The United States covets the archipelago’s vast nickel reserves, essential for electric car batteries, but China dominates production there.
The summit is nevertheless unlikely to offer a respite on the diplomatic issue which has monopolized Joe Biden’s attention for a month: the war between Israel and Hamas.
Apec members include not only Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, but also neighboring Malaysia. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is traveling to San Francisco despite opposition calls in his country for a boycott over US support for Israel.
Apec, which speaks of “economies” instead of “countries”, unusually includes both China and Taiwan. The island is represented by a businessman, Morris Chang, a historic figure in the Taiwanese semiconductor industry.
Negotiations
Free trade agreements are no longer popular in Washington, Donald Trump having withdrawn the United States from the nascent Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), proposed by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Instead, Joe Biden’s administration last year created the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which does not offer market access but seeks to facilitate trade between 14 countries, including Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and much of Southeast Asia, excluding China.
Negotiations have been successful on one of IPEF’s three parts – supply chains – and Apec could secure deals on the other two, trade and clean energy, according to former trade negotiator Wendy Cutler American and now vice-president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The IPEF aims to provide a “counterbalance to China’s emerging trade relationships in the region,” according to Niels Graham of the Atlantic Council. “The Biden administration wants to use Apec and IPEF to demonstrate that the United States is here and intends to stay.”
With AFP
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