Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Peru Thursday for an Asia-Pacific summit where he will meet US counterpart Joe Biden under the shadow of a looming trade war with the incoming administration of Donald Trump.
Xi arrived at an air base outside the capital Lima hours before the expected touchdown of Biden on the eve of a two-day heads-of-state meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.
Biden and Xi are due to hold a bilateral Saturday, in what a US administration official said will likely be the last meeting between the sitting leaders of the world’s largest economies before Biden hands the reins back to Trump.
APEC, created in 1989 with the goal of regional trade liberalization, brings together 21 economies that jointly represent about 60 percent of world GDP and over 40 percent of global commerce.
On Thursday, APEC ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held their own meeting behind closed doors in Lima to set the tone for the two-day summit to follow.
The APEC program was to focus on trade and investment for what proponents dubbed inclusive growth.
But uncertainty over Trump’s next moves following his November 5 election victory now clouds the agenda — as it does for the COP29 climate talks underway in Azerbaijan, and a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week.
With the US president-elect having signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing for his second term in the White House, Saturday’s face-to-face between Xi and Biden will be a closely-watched affair.
‘America First’
The summit will also be attended by Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and Indonesia, among others.
President Vladimir Putin of APEC member Russia will not attend.
Trump’s “America First” agenda is characterized by protectionist stances on global commerce, fossil fuel extraction and foreign conflicts.
It threatens alliances Biden had built on issues ranging from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to climate change and trade.
The Republican president-elect has threatened tariffs of up to 60 percent on imports of Chinese goods to even out what he says is an imbalance in bilateral trade.
China is grappling with a prolonged housing crisis and sluggish consumption that can only be made worse by a new trade war with Washington.
But economists say punitive levies will also harm the American economy and affect trade with its neighbors and with Europe.
‘Criminals and drugs’
China is an ally of Western pariahs Russia and North Korea, and is building up its own military capacity while ramping up pressure on Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.
It is also expanding its reach into Latin America through infrastructure and other projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.
Xi will on Thursday inaugurate South America’s first Chinese-funded port, in Chancay, north of Lima.
Xi, in an article penned for the official El Peruano newspaper, said Beijing was ready to work with Lima towards “true multilateralism” and “a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.”
Biden, meanwhile, will on Friday meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol — key US allies in Asia.
Before leaving Tokyo for the summit, Ishiba said the talks would seek to “confirm and enhance” trilateral cooperation.
As for China, “there are issues between the two countries. But there are also issues that we must work together on. I would like to have a frank exchange of opinions on these issues,” said Ishiba.
China isn’t the only country in Trump’s economic crosshairs.
The incoming US leader has threatened tariffs of 25 percent or more on goods coming from Mexico — another APEC member — unless it stops an “onslaught of criminals and drugs” crossing the border.
Peru has deployed more than 13,000 members of the armed forces to keep the peace in Lima as transport workers and shop owners protested against crime and perceived government neglect.
Several dozen demonstrators gathered near the summit venue Thursday.