Asia-Pacific leaders condemn war, renew calls for open trade - Danbury News Times

KRUTIKA PATHI and ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

Nov. 19, 2022Updated: Nov. 19, 2022 12:47 a.m.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha opened Saturday's gathering by urging the leaders to propulsion up with APEC's docket of promoting escaped commercialized successful the Pacific region.

“We person to springiness precedence to turning this program into action," Prayuth said.

On Friday, APEC ministers issued a connection condemning Moscow's warfare connected Ukraine and calling for it to afloat withdraw. But it acknowledged differences of opinions among those present, which included Andrei Belousov, Russia's archetypal lawman premier minister.

The meetings Saturday wrapper up a flurry of leaders’ meetings successful Southeast Asian countries this week. Much of the enactment astatine specified summits occurs connected the sidelines and successful the interludes earlier and aft meetings begin.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and the leaders of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea met separately Friday to dependable concerns astir North Korea's motorboat earlier successful the time of an intercontinental ballistic rocket that landed adjacent Japan's bluish land of Hokkaido.

The APEC meetings Saturday returned to economical concerns.

“The satellite has been changed by events nary of america saw forthcoming," Kristalina Georgieva, caput of the International Monetary Fund, told the leaders gathered successful Bangkok’s heavy fortified league center.

Namely, the COVID-19 pandemic and the warfare successful Ukraine, she said.

The summits implicit the past week person fixed leaders a accidental for face-to-face encounters that person been uncommon successful the past 2 years owed to the pandemic.

A White House authoritative said Harris exchanged little remarks with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier Saturday's last APEC session.

The authoritative said Harris reiterated a connection conveyed by President Joe Biden erstwhile helium met with Xi astatine the Group of 20 starring economies successful Bali, Indonesia, earlier successful the week: We indispensable support unfastened lines of connection to responsibly negociate the contention betwixt our countries.

The authoritative spoke connected information they not beryllium named to beryllium capable to talk to the media.

Both astatine APEC successful Thailand and astatine the G-20 gathering successful Indonesia, officials look to person chosen to hold to disagree astir the warfare successful Ukraine. In Bali, China and India, aft months of refusing to condemn Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine, did not artifact the merchandise of a connection that harshly criticized Moscow.

“Most members powerfully condemned the warfare successful Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense quality suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities successful the planetary system — constraining growth, expanding inflation, disrupting proviso chains, heightening vigor and nutrient insecurity, and elevating fiscal stableness risks," said the ministerial connection issued Friday. “There were different views and antithetic assessments of the concern and sanctions."

It noted that APEC ”is not the forum to resoluteness information issues," but acknowledged “security issues tin person important consequences for the planetary economy."

It's a connection that has been voiced by galore during this week dense successful summitry.

APEC members relationship for astir 4 of each 10 radical and astir fractional of satellite trade. Much of APEC’s enactment is method and incremental, carried retired by elder officials and ministers, covering areas specified arsenic trade, forestry, health, food, security, small- and medium-size enterprises and women’s empowerment.

Other APEC members see Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was to correspond the Association of Southeast Asian Nations but did not be aft getting COVID-19.

The acme venue, astatine Bangkok’s main normal halfway adjacent a immense parkland, was cordoned disconnected with immoderate streets closed to traffic. Riot constabulary stood defender down barricades astatine a large intersection, keeping protesters good astatine bay.

But constabulary clashed successful different country of Bangkok with demonstrators who took the accidental of the APEC gathering to renew calls for antiauthoritarian reforms successful Thailand and impeach the authorities of promoting policies to APEC that favour large concern implicit mean people.

Police blocked them, sparking a convulsive confrontation with immoderate protesters tossing debris and different items astatine police, who past charged the crowd, shooting rubber bullets. Several radical were injured and a fig of arrests were made successful the standoff, which lasted respective hours.

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Associated Press journalists Grant Peck, Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul, Tian McLeod Ji, David Rising, Chisato Tanaka, Jerry Harmer and Tassanee Vejpongsa contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s APEC sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific-economic-cooperation