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Trump to take part in virtual APEC summit Friday: US official
The APEC forum, hosted this year by Malaysia but held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 percent of global GDP.
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(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 19, 2019, US President Donald Trump leaves after speaking at summit on transforming mental health treatment to combat homelessness, violence and substance abuse at the White House in Washington, DC. Incumbent US President Donald Trump has been denied a second term after challenger, former US Vice President Joe Biden won the election, TV networks projected on November 7, 2020, a victory sealed after the Democrat claimed several key battleground states won by the Republican incumbent in 2016. CNN, NBC News and CBS News called the race in his favor, after projecting he had won the decisive state of Pennsylvania. His running mate, US Senator Kamala Harris, has become the first woman US Vice President elected to the office. (Agence France Presse/Brendan Smialowski)
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onald Trump will take part on Friday in the virtual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a senior US official said, as the president continues to reject the results of this month's election.
The APEC forum, hosted this year by Malaysia but held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic, brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 percent of global GDP.
"President Trump will participate in tomorrow's virtual APEC Summit," the official told AFP.
Beijing has become the main driving force behind the organization after the United States began withdrawing from multilateral bodies during Trump's presidency.
President Xi Jinping spoke at the summit on Thursday, hailing China as the pivot point for global free trade, and vowing to keep its "super-sized" economy open for business as the world battles the pandemic.
Buoyed by the signing of the world's largest trade pact over the weekend, Xi said the Asia-Pacific is the "forerunner driving global growth" in a world hit by "multiple challenges."
He rejected any possibility of the "decoupling" of China's economy, in his only nod to the hostile trade policy of Trump's administration, which has battered China with tariffs and tech restrictions.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which excludes the US, is viewed as a major coup for China and further evidence that Beijing is setting the agenda for global commerce as Washington retreats.
