1 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)
2 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)
World leaders dial in as New Zealand hosts special APEC meeting on pandemic
Jul 16 - U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and other world leaders meet virtually on Friday for the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, seeking collective actions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.
New Zealand, the revolving Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation host, said this week it will chair the extraordinary meeting ahead of a formal gathering in November, the first time such an additional meeting has been held.
The meeting highlights growing concerns around COVID-19 which is raging in the region as countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Australia face new waves of infections.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stressed the importance of the 21-economy group working together to navigate a way out of the pandemic in a call with Biden ahead of the meeting.
But tensions among APEC members - mostly notably between the West and China over the origins of the coronavirus, trade, Xinjiang and South China Sea - could yet upend the agenda.
A senior Biden administration official said the president will use the forum to demonstrate his commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
"As one of the first opportunities he has to engage with many of these leaders, he will make clear that the U.S. has an enduring commitment to the region. He will put forward a vision for the region that is based on our values," said the official.
Biden will also discuss how the region can work together to fuel the global economic recovery... more
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New Zealand hosts special APEC meeting on pandemic
Jul 16 - U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and other world leaders meet virtually on Friday for the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, seeking collective actions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.
New Zealand, the revolving Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation host, said this week it will chair the extraordinary meeting ahead of a formal gathering in November, the first time such an additional meeting has been held.
The meeting highlights growing concerns around COVID-19 which is raging in the region as countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Australia face new waves of infections.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stressed the importance of the 21-economy group working together to navigate a way out of the pandemic in a call with Biden ahead of the meeting.
But tensions among APEC members - mostly notably between the West and China over the origins of the coronavirus, trade, Xinjiang and South China Sea - could yet upend the agenda.
A senior Biden administration official said the president will use the forum to demonstrate his commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
"As one of the first opportunities he has to engage with many of these leaders, he will make clear that the U.S. has an enduring commitment to the region. He will put forward a vision for the region that is based on our values," said the official.
Biden will also discuss how the region can work together to fuel the global economic recovery... more
Related Articles:
NZ's Ardern says special APEC meeting to focus on economic impact of pandemic
NZ PM Ardern discussed vaccines with U.S. President Biden ahead of APEC meet
New Zealand hosts special APEC meeting on pandemic
A man walks by restaurants in Lyon, central France, July 13, 2021.
Pacific Rim Leaders to Discuss Economic Way Out of Pandemic
Jul 16 - U.S. President Joe Biden, his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among Pacific Rim leaders gathering virtually to discuss strategies to help economies rebound from a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will chair the special leaders' meeting Friday of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
But the pandemic and vaccine diplomacy have proved to be divisive issues among members of a forum that says its primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Biden spoke by phone with Ardern on Friday ahead of the leaders' retreat and discussed U.S. interest in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, a White House statement said.
“They also discussed our cooperation on and engagement with Pacific Island nations,” the statement said.
The Biden administration has put a premium on tending to relations with allies in the Pacific early in his administration.
One of his first high-profile acts of diplomacy as president was hosting a virtual summit with fellow leaders of the Quad - Australia, India and Japan - a group central to his efforts to counter China's growing military and economic power. And he hosted Suga and South Korea President Moon Jae-in for the first in-person foreign leader meetings of his presidency. South Korea is an APEC member and India is the only country in the Quad that is not.
...Although the Biden administration has announced that about 50 countries and entities will receive a share of the excess COVID-19 vaccine doses, the U.S. had shipped fewer than 24 million doses to 10 recipient countries by July 1, according to an Associated Press tally.
Taiwan, an APEC member that China claims as a renegade territory, has accused Beijing of tying the delivery of coronavirus vaccines to political demands. The government of the self-ruled island says China has intervened to block vaccine deliveries to Taiwan from fellow APEC members Japan and the United States.
China has accused Australia of interfering in the rollout of Chinese vaccines in former Australian colony Papua New Guinea. Both Australia and Papua New Guinea are also APEC members.
Sino-Australian relations plummeted last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the pandemic.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who will also join the meeting, said in a statement now was a “critical time for Australia to engage with regional partners to promote free trade facilitation, in particular for vaccines and essential goods; build momentum for strengthening the multilateral trading system; and secure a sustainable and inclusive recovery”... quoted from
Pacific Rim Leaders to Discuss Economic Way Out of Pandemic
Jul 16 - U.S. President Joe Biden, his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among Pacific Rim leaders gathering virtually to discuss strategies to help economies rebound from a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will chair the special leaders' meeting Friday of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
But the pandemic and vaccine diplomacy have proved to be divisive issues among members of a forum that says its primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Biden spoke by phone with Ardern on Friday ahead of the leaders' retreat and discussed U.S. interest in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, a White House statement said.
“They also discussed our cooperation on and engagement with Pacific Island nations,” the statement said.
The Biden administration has put a premium on tending to relations with allies in the Pacific early in his administration.
One of his first high-profile acts of diplomacy as president was hosting a virtual summit with fellow leaders of the Quad - Australia, India and Japan - a group central to his efforts to counter China's growing military and economic power. And he hosted Suga and South Korea President Moon Jae-in for the first in-person foreign leader meetings of his presidency. South Korea is an APEC member and India is the only country in the Quad that is not.
...Although the Biden administration has announced that about 50 countries and entities will receive a share of the excess COVID-19 vaccine doses, the U.S. had shipped fewer than 24 million doses to 10 recipient countries by July 1, according to an Associated Press tally.
Taiwan, an APEC member that China claims as a renegade territory, has accused Beijing of tying the delivery of coronavirus vaccines to political demands. The government of the self-ruled island says China has intervened to block vaccine deliveries to Taiwan from fellow APEC members Japan and the United States.
China has accused Australia of interfering in the rollout of Chinese vaccines in former Australian colony Papua New Guinea. Both Australia and Papua New Guinea are also APEC members.
Sino-Australian relations plummeted last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the pandemic.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who will also join the meeting, said in a statement now was a “critical time for Australia to engage with regional partners to promote free trade facilitation, in particular for vaccines and essential goods; build momentum for strengthening the multilateral trading system; and secure a sustainable and inclusive recovery”... quoted from
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC; /eɪpɛk/ AY-pek[1]) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.[2] Following the success of ASEAN's series of post-ministerial conferences launched in the mid-1980s,[3] APEC started in 1989,[4] in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; it aimed to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.[5] Headquartered in Singapore,[6] APEC is recognized as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific region,[7] and exerts a significant global influence.[8][9][10][11]
The heads of government of all APEC members except the Republic of China (which is represented by a ministerial-level official under the name Chinese Taipei as economic leader)[12] attend an annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition, followed for most (but not all) summits, involves the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host country. APEC has three official observers: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.[13] APEC's Host Economy of the Year is considered to be invited in the first place for geographical representation to attend G20 meetings following G20 guidelines. from Wikipedia
The heads of government of all APEC members except the Republic of China (which is represented by a ministerial-level official under the name Chinese Taipei as economic leader)[12] attend an annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition, followed for most (but not all) summits, involves the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host country. APEC has three official observers: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.[13] APEC's Host Economy of the Year is considered to be invited in the first place for geographical representation to attend G20 meetings following G20 guidelines. from Wikipedia
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and US president Joe Biden, whose administration says it will work with Australia to push back against China’s trade practices.
US vows to work with Australia to oppose China’s ‘unfair’ trade practices
European Union set to join as third party if dispute between Australia and China moves to next stage at World Trade Organization
Jul 13 - The Biden administration has vowed to work with Australia to push back against China’s “unfair” trade practices, as the Morrison government seeks international support to fight Beijing’s tariffs on Australian wine.
With the US declaring it has “Australia’s back”, Guardian Australia has learned the European Union is also set to join as a third party if the dispute between Australia and China moves to the next stage at the World Trade Organization.
Trade experts say Australia stands to gain from the involvement of major players such as the EU and US, because they have larger ranks of trade litigation specialists and the wine dispute is likely to be more complicated than the barley tariff fight.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, is set to fly from Vietnam to Japan on Wednesday as part of a two-week trip seeking to diversify Australia’s trade links amid growing tensions with China and to “champion support for a functioning global rules-based trading system”.
The US, EU, Japan and the United Kingdom are among those to have already joined as third parties in the WTO case on China’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on Australian barley, the first of a series of trade actions taken by Beijing as the relationship deteriorated last year.
But it is understood Australia has not yet received any requests to join the consultations on the more recently launched challenge against China’s tariffs on Australian wine... more
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Australia escalates China trade dispute with WTO action
US vows to work with Australia to oppose China’s ‘unfair’ trade practices
European Union set to join as third party if dispute between Australia and China moves to next stage at World Trade Organization
Jul 13 - The Biden administration has vowed to work with Australia to push back against China’s “unfair” trade practices, as the Morrison government seeks international support to fight Beijing’s tariffs on Australian wine.
With the US declaring it has “Australia’s back”, Guardian Australia has learned the European Union is also set to join as a third party if the dispute between Australia and China moves to the next stage at the World Trade Organization.
Trade experts say Australia stands to gain from the involvement of major players such as the EU and US, because they have larger ranks of trade litigation specialists and the wine dispute is likely to be more complicated than the barley tariff fight.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, is set to fly from Vietnam to Japan on Wednesday as part of a two-week trip seeking to diversify Australia’s trade links amid growing tensions with China and to “champion support for a functioning global rules-based trading system”.
The US, EU, Japan and the United Kingdom are among those to have already joined as third parties in the WTO case on China’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on Australian barley, the first of a series of trade actions taken by Beijing as the relationship deteriorated last year.
But it is understood Australia has not yet received any requests to join the consultations on the more recently launched challenge against China’s tariffs on Australian wine... more
Related Articles:
Australia escalates China trade dispute with WTO action
TSMC founder Morris Chang to represent Taiwan at 2021 APEC events
Jul 13, 2021
Jul 13, 2021
Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand
July 15, 2021•STATEMENTS AND
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today spoke by phone with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. They discussed our interest in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and President Biden underscored the enduring U.S. commitment to the region. The leaders discussed our close partnership on a range of issues, including efforts to support the global economic recovery and to end the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden commended Prime Minister Ardern for her steadfast and effective leadership throughout the pandemic. President Biden expressed U.S. support for the Christchurch Call to Action. They also discussed our cooperation on and engagement with Pacific Island nations. President Biden also thanked Prime Minister Ardern for hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Virtual Leaders’ Retreat on July 16, and they agreed on the importance of multilateral institutions and economic cooperation throughout the region. source from
July 15, 2021•STATEMENTS AND
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today spoke by phone with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. They discussed our interest in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and President Biden underscored the enduring U.S. commitment to the region. The leaders discussed our close partnership on a range of issues, including efforts to support the global economic recovery and to end the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden commended Prime Minister Ardern for her steadfast and effective leadership throughout the pandemic. President Biden expressed U.S. support for the Christchurch Call to Action. They also discussed our cooperation on and engagement with Pacific Island nations. President Biden also thanked Prime Minister Ardern for hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Virtual Leaders’ Retreat on July 16, and they agreed on the importance of multilateral institutions and economic cooperation throughout the region. source from
