Thawing of US-China relations gives Apec Summit a timely boost

[Bangkok] AS THIS year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit heads for its conclusion on Saturday (Nov 19), there were positive signs on Friday night that the regional forum would reach a consensus, even on the divisive issue of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Thailand, the chair of the 21-member grouping, has faced fierce opposition to consensus-building among participants at the various ministerial-level meetings this year, most of which failed to produce a joint statement at the end.

But there was a breakthrough on Friday when Cherdchai Chaivaivid, director-general of the Thai Foreign Ministry’s department of international affairs, said the Apec ministers had agreed to a joint statement.

They welcomed the Bangkok Goals on the bio-circular green (BCG) Economy, which will be submitted for the endorsement of Apec leaders on Saturday

The ministers also reiterated their determination to deliver a “free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive and predictable trade and investment environment”, as well as continue their efforts to keep supply chains functioning, secure and resilient.

All eyes are now on whether the Apec leaders will be able to produce a joint communique on Saturday.

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The bloc’s members include the United States and China – the world’s two-largest economies – and Russia. Washington and Beijing are still embroiled in a trade war, while much of the world is still seething at Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.

Both US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin opted to skip the Apec meet in Thailand, instead sending their representatives – Vice-President Kamala Harris and First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Bangkok on Thursday night, and shortly after arrival he issued a statement that called for de-escalation of geo-political tensions in the region.

“The Asia-Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena for big-power contest,” Xi said.

The language over the Russia-Ukraine war was the main sticking point to reaching a consensus in Bangkok, but a solution was found by following a similar language used in the G20 joint statement made in Bali this week, which condemned the violence but noted the dissenting voices.

The mood at the summit has arguably benefited from the historic meeting at the G20 Summit in Bali earlier this week between Biden and Xi, which has reduced tensions between the two economic giants and rivals for influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Analysts attribute the slight thawing of US-China relations in part to the improved political positioning of the two leaders – Biden after his better-than-expected midterm election results earlier this month, and Xi securing an unprecedented third term as president last month.

“Both sides needed to calm down in view of global economic adversity,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University. “US-China relations are improving despite Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

Eased Sino-US tensions may be one reason for the mellower mood in Bangkok, analysts said.

“I am seeing more and more of the Apec spirit coming back to the room,” Cherdchai said at a briefing on Friday. “In the past couple of days, there has been clear evidence that economies are starting to bridge our differences.”

Given the strained geo-political environment in which Apec has been held, Thailand has been pushing a more readily agreeable agenda called the “Bangkok goals on bio-circular green economic model”.

The BCG model was adopted by the Thai government in January 2021, and pressing a similar model on the region has been a persistent theme during Thailand’s chairmanship of Apec this year.

The “Bangkok goals” – broad targets at enhancing sustainability, resilience and inclusiveness among businesses and economies – have been widely accepted by Apec members, including US officials.

“The bio-circular green economy policy pioneered by Thailand has been an important component of every discussion at APEC,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “The United States is committed to building of these and other resolutions before we take over the presidency of Apec next year.”

The US will host the Apec summit next year, and will doubtless seek to use the forum as a means of furthering its impact on the region.

“Thailand’s leadership is catalysing Apec around the bio-circular green economy model is a great contribution to sustainability and inclusiveness and gives an important focus for Apec in trade development,” said US Trade Representaive Katherine Tai.

“The reason why these are such unifying themes for everybody in that Apec room is because we are all dealing with discomfort and anxiety with the global economy today,” she said.

”We need different outcomes and that means we need to be innovative in how we engage with each other in trade and economies across the board.”