Asia-Pacific leaders fail to reach consensus on APEC communique
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) and China's President Xi Jinping at APEC Haus during the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea November 17, 2018. Mick Tsikas/Pool via REUTERS
PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - A Chinese official said on Sunday that Asia-Pacific leaders could not issue the traditional communique at the end of the regional APEC forum, held in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
PNG will instead issue a “chairman’s statement”, said Zhang Shaogang, director-general of China’s international department at the Ministry of Commerce.
Conflicting visions for the region had made it difficult to draft a summit communique, PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato told Reuters earlier on Sunday, as the United States and China revealed competing ambitions for the region.
Reporting by Jonathan Barrett in PORT MORESBY; Editing by Himani Sarkar
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