"GYEONGJU, South Korea President Trump sat down with President Xi Jinping of China on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation convention (APEC) in South Korea last week. The leaders of the world's biggest economies met at the airport in Busan, an hour's drive away from the APEC host city of Gyeongju, for just an hour and 40 minutes. Despite the brevity of the much-anticipated rendezvous and Trump's absence in the main APEC Economic Leaders' Summit the countries' trade dispute loomed large over the event."
"As the chair of this year's APEC, President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea advocated for the multilateral forum's role in spite of "different values and objectives" among its members. "The goal is to identify common challenges that can be discussed together and to maximize cooperation within possible scope," Lee said. But some experts question how viable and concrete such cooperation can be when the U.S. is shifting from a supporter of trade liberalism to an increasingly protectionist and transactional position."
President Trump met President Xi Jinping for an hour and 40 minutes at Busan airport during APEC. The brief meeting and U.S. absence from the main APEC summit left the U.S.-China trade dispute dominating the agenda. APEC's 21 members issued a joint declaration acknowledging challenges to the global trade system and supply chains and called for a trade and investment environment that promotes resilience and benefits for all. South Korea's APEC chair, President Lee Jae Myung, urged the forum to identify common challenges and maximize cooperation despite differing values and objectives. Experts warn that U.S. moves toward protectionism complicate multilateral cooperation and strain smaller regional actors caught between the United States and China.
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