Beijing says site for rescheduled Apec summit should be decided by consensus

Decision should ‘abide by the principle of consultation’, foreign ministry says in response to report US offered to co-host meeting with Chile on American soil

Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump had been expected to sign an interim trade deal on sidelines of cancelled Santiago event

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The Apec summit in Santiago had to be cancelled because of social unrest in the city. Photo: Shutterstock

Wendy Wuin BeijingandJun Maiin Hong Kong

Published: 11:00pm, 8 Nov 2019Updated: 1:22am, 9 Nov 2019

The decision on where to hold a rescheduled Apec leaders meeting should be based on mutual agreement, China said on Friday, after a report that the United States had offered to co-host the event with Chile on American soil.

“As a principle, we believe that any issue related to Apec [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] should respect the host country and should abide by the principle of consultation and consensus,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing.

“We have been keeping in touch with all related sides and following the development of the situation.”

The summit, which was scheduled to be held in Santiago next weekend, was cancelled because of social unrest in the Chilean capital. The event would have had particular significance for China and the US as Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump were expected to use it as a backdrop for the signing of a “phase one” deal aimed at easing tensions in their 16-month trade war.

Suggestions that the US and Chile might jointly hold the event came from a Reuters report on Thursday that cited a senior but unnamed US official.

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