WASHINGTON – Donald Trump will take part today in the virtual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum, said a senior US official, as the president continues to reject the results of this month’s election.
The forum, hosted this year by Malaysia but held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60% of global gross domestic product.
“President Trump will participate in (today’s) virtual Apec Summit," the official told AFP yesterday.
Beijing has become the main driving force behind the organisation after the US began withdrawing from multilateral bodies during Trump’s presidency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at the summit yesterday, hailing his country as the pivot point for global free trade, and vowing to keep its “super-sized” economy open for business as the world battles the pandemic.
Buoyed by the signing of the world’s largest trade pact over the weekend, Xi said the Asia-Pacific region is the “forerunner driving global growth” in a world hit by “multiple challenges”.
He rejected any possibility of the “decoupling” of China’s economy, in his only nod to the hostile trade policy of Trump’s administration, which has battered Beijing with tariffs and tech restrictions.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which excludes the US, is viewed as a major coup for China and further evidence that Beijing is setting the agenda for global commerce as Washington retreats. – AFP, November 20, 2020
