China, Russian Federation slam US-led trade pacts at APEC summit

They five proposals were:”Improving Natural Disaster Resilience of APEC SMEs to Facilitate Trade and Investment”, “APEC Emergency Preparedness Capacity Building Center, EPCC”, “Energy Smart Communities Initiative – Knowledge Sharing Platform”, “APEC Strengthening Public-Private Partnership to Reduce Food Losses in the Supply Chain”, and “Innovation for Women and Economic Development”. Turning to other matters, the APEC leaders also condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, as well as the bombing of a Russian airliner.

Against the backdrop of terrorism directly threatening Apec’s vision of secure, open, and prosperous economies, the Apec counter-terrorism task force was established in May 2003.

In 2014, Apec economies accounted for 40 percent of the world population, 57 percent of world Gross Domestic Product (US$44.1 billion), 48.5 percent of global trade (US$18.5 billion), and 53.1 percent of global foreign direct investments (FDIs) inflow (US$652 billion).

In November a year ago, APEC Leaders endorsed the “Beijing Roadmap for APEC’s Contribution to the Realization of FTAAP”.

Regional economies should be integrated further by liberalising the services industry, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in Manila yesterday morning at a session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ meeting.

Obama faces significant resistance to TPP ratification, even from a few members of his own party, including Hillary Clinton the leading Democratic candidate for president.

Xi said during the summit that a variety of new regional free trade initiatives are causing fragmentation among nations, according to media reports, though he did not name the TPP.

Park was seen playing both cards, as she said at the summit that South Korea plans to actively participate in the new trade blocs led by Beijing ― a remark that came after she expressed her keen interest in the TPP.

Aquino voiced concern that the TPP standards may be too high for all interested countries to meet.

“As we gather again one year after that, our goal is still to deepen Asia-Pacific cooperation and promote common development of the region”, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday. He also reaffirmed a U.S.-Philippines defense pact, announced that the US would transfer two additional ships to the Philippine Navy and offered $250 million in maritime security assistance to allies and partners in the region.

But the other reason the APEC meeting got off on what, in my opinion, was the wrong track, was the surprisingly disappointing combativeness US President Obama brought with him to Manila.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said Friday the Philippine hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit was a success.

Russia’s representative at APEC, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, said Wednesday world trade rules should be drafted within the framework of the World Trade Organization, not regional groupings.

Obama said the two countries would soon be signatories to the TPP, which still must be approved by each country. Member nations released a statement this week saying the trade pact creates a “new and compelling model for trade” that will alleviate poverty and strengthen links among their economies.