The rivalry between Washington and Beijing overshadowed a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders over the weekend as the two superpowers used the forum to trade blows over trade policy. Talks at the APEC meeting are aimed at strengthening economic cooperation but came to an acrimonious end on Sunday when leaders were unable to agree on a joint communique for the first time in the group’s 29-year history. At a press conference following the divisive summit, Peter O’Neill, prime minister of host nation Papua New Guinea, signalled the “two big giants in the room” were responsible for the unprecedented end to the event.
And Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat who is now a visiting professor at Ritsumeikan University, warned the ongoing trade battle between is just part of a wider conflict.
He told Bloomberg: “This is one episode in the hegemonic struggle between the US and China — it will go on for a while.
“It will be a Cold War, whether we call it that or not.”
The US and China have been engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war since President Trump began imposing tariffs on Chinese-made goods in January.
And the strained relations between the two nations was laid bare at the APEC summit.
Both Washington and Beijing used the event to attack each other’s policies and make their case for who is the better investment partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
One diplomat involved in negotiations for the communique expressed their surprise over the failure to agree to a statement, which is traditionally an uncontentious summary of what had been discussed.
They said: “It’s not even supposed to be binding, it’s APEC.
“China and the US hijacked the APEC spirit, I suppose.”
US Vice President Mike Pence, who attended on behalf of President Trump, challenged China directly during the summit and urged nations to avoid loans that would leave them indebted to Beijing.
He went on to warn the US is not in a hurry to end the trade war and would “not change course until China changes its ways”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping used the summit to pitch his landmark Belt and Road initiative, a massive infrastructure programme likely to cost upwards of £760billion.
The plan involves a series of huge construction projects such as roads, bridges and ports in countries including Pakistan, Laos and Montenegro.
Speaking in Beijing today, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the United States attended APEC in a “blaze of anger”, causing disputes and disagreements and damaging the “harmonious atmosphere” of the meeting.
He said: “APEC is a platform to deepen cooperation, not a place to criticise each other. China attended to promote cooperation and seek consensus, not to get into a boxing ring.”