ECONOMIC IDEAL – Tehran, Nov 20, IRNA/Global Times – The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting ended Sunday in Papua New Guinea without a formal joint statement, a result that China's foreign ministry blames on ‘a certain economy’ for insisting on protectionism and unilateralism.
‘A certain economy imposed its own ideas on other members while rejecting amendment suggestions to the statement offered by China and other economies,’ Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement on Monday. ‘This violates the principle of consensus-building, which cannot be ignored or abandoned as a core value and basic rule of the APEC.’
‘Most APEC members, especially developing countries and regions, expressed their support for the multilateral trading system, showing a clear stance against protectionism,’ Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said during the ministry's press briefing on Tuesday.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who was chairman of the meeting, said the sticking point was over whether to mention the WTO and its possible reform in the joint statement.
‘APEC has got no charter over World Trade Organization, that is a fact. Those matters can be raised at the World Trade Organization,’ he said on Sunday.
China supports the necessary reforms of WTO to keep pace with world development, which should safeguard WTO's core values and basic principles of multilateralism and free trade.
‘Practices of power politics and economic bullying have been opposed by most APEC members,’ Geng said on Monday's routine news briefing.
Disagreements aside, the APEC meeting was generally successful, with broad consensuses reached on regional economic integration, strengthening interconnection and achieving inclusive growth, Wang said.
China placed great importance on the meeting, which saw Chinese President Xi Jinping deliver a keynote speech.
‘Xi proposed focusing on openness, development, inclusiveness, innovation and a rules-based approach, improving global economic governance and handling common challenges,’ Wang said.
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Source : I R N A