Apec leaders unable to agree on communique amid US-China trade tensions

Deep divisions between the United States and China have derailed the APEC meeting in Port Moresby, with regional leaders failing to agree on a final communique for the first time in the summit's history.

APEC leaders failed to reach agreement at the end of an acrimonious two-day summit in PNG. Source: Getty

The two regional powers clashed repeatedly over the language on trade in the final document, with Beijing angrily rejecting paragraphs that called for an overhaul of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and warned against unfair trade tactics.

The failure to put together a final set of words marks the first time in the APEC summit’s history that a leader’s communique has not been released.

The inability to come to a consensus at the summit ‘speaks volumes’, Laura Jayes notes, as countries are usually not keen to make waves at summits designed to ‘keep up appearances’.

Follow SBS Greek on Facebook

Listen to SBS Greek Podcasts here