 Police called on diplomats as APEC summit tensions boil over Port Moresby (AFP) Nov 18, 2018 - Police were called when Chinese officials attempted to "barge" into the office of Papua New Guinea's foreign minister, it emerged Sunday, as APEC summit tensions boiled over. The Chinese delegates "tried to barge in" to Rimbink Pato's Port Moresby office Saturday, in an eleventh-hour bid to influence a summit draft communique, but were denied entry, three sources with knowledge of the situation told AFP. "Police were posted outside the minister's office after they tried to barge in," one source privy to summit negotiations told AFP, requesting anonymity. The diplomatic incident came with tensions already high at a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders that has been overshadowed by a spat between the United States and China. Pato had refused to meet with the delegates, according to a source, who said: "It's not appropriate for the minister to negotiate solo with the Chinese. The Chinese negotiating officials know this." The minister himself sought to downplay the incident, telling AFP: "There wasn't an issue." Asked about the incident, Chinese foreign ministry official Zhang Xiaolong told reporters: "It's not true. It's simply not true". APEC nations usually agree a joint statement but officials are struggling to bridge deep divides on trade policy and admit that a formal communique may not be issued. This is not the first time Chinese officials have been involved in a tense incident at a regional meeting. At the Pacific Islands Forum in September, Nauru's president demanded China apologise after its delegation walked out of a meeting when the host refused to let an envoy speak until island leaders had finished. "They're not our friends. They just need us for their own purposes," President Baron Waqa said at the time.
Trump says China wants trade deal, more tariffs may not be needed Trump already has imposed steep tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, and has threatened to hit another $267 billion, which would be all US imports from the world's number two economy. US companies and farmers have been complaining about the lost business and rising prices for key components as a result of the trade friction. "China wants to make a deal," Trump told reporters. "They sent a list of things that they are willing to do." While the offer is not acceptable yet, he said he was optimistic for an agreement to get "reciprocal" trade. "I think a deal will be made and we will find out very soon." Beijing's list included 142 items and includes "a lot of the things we asked for. Some things were left off. We will probably get them, too," he said. The statements seemed to contradict comments Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who just hours earlier had said a deal with Beijing was "impossible" before the end of the year. Trump is due to meet with China's President Xi Jinping late this month in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders summit. However, Ross said those talks would serve as a framework to resolving the dispute. "We certainly won't have a full formal deal by January. Impossible," he said, according to Bloomberg. The January date is key since the 10 percent tariffs in place on $200 billion in annual imports from China is due to increase to 25 percent. US stocks jumped following Trump's remarks but had pared some of those gains toward 1830 GMT.
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Asia-Pacific leaders failed Sunday to bridge gaping divisions over trade at a summit dominated by a war of words between the US and China as they vie for regional influence.
For the first time, APEC leaders were unable to agree on a formal written declaration amid sharp differences between the world's top two economies over the rules of global trade.
"You know the two big giants in the room. What can I say?" said host and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, conceding defeat.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted the failure came down to "different visions on particular elements with regard to trade that prevented full consensus."
Sources said going into the meeting the United States had pressed for the leaders to issue what amounted to a denunciation of the World Trade Organization and a call for its wholesale reform.
That demand was a step too far for Beijing, which would likely get less preferential treatment under any changes.
O'Neill indicated the WTO had been a sticking point in agreeing a joint communique.
"APEC has got no charter over the World Trade Organization. That is a fact," he said. "Those matters can be raised at the World Trade Organization."
The spat ramps up the stakes for a crunch meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Argentina at the end of the month.
O'Neill denied it was a humiliation for his poverty-hit country, which was hosting the annual gathering of the 21 nations for the first time.
As tensions boiled over, police were called when Chinese officials attempted to "barge" into the office of PNG's foreign minister in an eleventh-hour bid to influence a summit draft communique, three sources with knowledge of the situation told AFP.
Chinese foreign ministry official Zhang Xiaolong denied the incident, telling reporters: "It's not true. It's simply not true".
- 'Drown our partners' -
Even before the summit started, tensions between the two big hitters came to the fore with Xi and US Vice President Mike Pence crossing swords in competing major policy speeches.
Pence warned smaller countries not to be seduced by China's massive Belt-and-Road infrastructure programme, which sees Beijing offer money to poorer countries for construction and development projects.
The "opaque" loans come with strings attached and build up "staggering debt", Pence charged, mocking the initiative as a "constricting belt" and a "one-way road".
In a speech to business leaders just minutes before Pence, Xi insisted the initiative was not a "trap" and there was no "hidden agenda" -- amid criticism that it amounts to chequebook diplomacy in the region.
Xi also lashed out at "America First" trade protectionism, saying it was a "short-sighted approach" that was "doomed to failure".
Pence told reporters Sunday: "I spoke to President Xi twice during the course of this conference. We had a candid conversation."
He told him the US is interested in a better relationship with China "but there has to be change" in Beijing's trade policies.
With fears that a trade war between the two rivals could cripple the Pacific Rim economy, some attendees voiced concern about the growing rivalry for influence in the region.
"Business leaders do not want to speak out, but behind the scenes here, they are talking over dinner saying 'how has this happened'?" Denis O'Brien, the billionaire chairman of Digicel told AFP.
"It's a very forced situation, one country is trying to force all the other countries to change tariffs agreed over years," O'Brien said.
- Cruise ship diplomacy -
Trump -- and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- both decided to skip the gathering, leaving the spotlight on Xi who arrived two days early to open a Chinese-funded school and road in Papua New Guinea's dirt-poor capital Port Moresby.
Xi has been the star of the show, front and centre at official photos whereas Pence, by choice and because he carries a lower rank of protocol, has kept a lower profile, only deciding at the last minute to stay overnight in Port Moresby -- shelving original plans to fly in and out from Cairns in Australia.
As if to counter Chinese largesse, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan on Sunday announced a project to boost electricity capacity in Papua New Guinea.
And as the US and China tussle for influence in the region, the statement dangled the prospect of similar projects for countries that "support principles and values which help maintain and promote a free, open, prosperous and rules-based region."
With the official business of the summit relatively low-key, much of the focus has been on the unlikely venue of Port Moresby, which is hosting its first international event of this scale.
The city is on lockdown with hundreds of police and military patrolling the streets of the notoriously crime-ridden capital.
Warships are stationed just off the coast to provide security for the leaders, and delegates and media have been housed in enormous cruise ships due to a dearth of hotel rooms.
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