Xi, Biden in Peru for APEC summit, pre-Trump face-to-face

LIMA - US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping arrived in Peru Thursday for an Asia-Pacific summit where they will likely meet for the last time under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump's election victory.

Air Force One touched down at an air base outside Lima as Xi, who landed hours earlier, was being received at the presidential palace by Peruvian leader Dina Boluarte on the eve of a two-day heads-of-state meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping.

The men are due to hold talks Saturday, in what a US administration official said will probably be the last face-to-face between the sitting leaders of the world's largest economies before Trump is sworn in in January.

With the Republican president-elect having signaled a confrontational approach to Beijing for his second term, the bilateral meeting will be a closely watched affair.

APEC, created in 1989 with the goal of regional trade liberalization, brings together 21 economies that jointly represent about 60 percent of world GDP and over 40 percent of global commerce.

The summit program was to focus on trade and investment for what proponents dubbed inclusive growth.

But uncertainty over Trump's next moves now clouds the agenda -- as it does for the COP29 climate talks underway in Azerbaijan, and a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week.

On Thursday, APEC ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held their own meeting behind closed doors in Lima to set the tone for the two-day summit to follow.

Trump announced this week he will replace Blinken with Senator Marco Rubio, a China hawk.

'America First'

The summit will also be attended by Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and Indonesia, among others.

President Vladimir Putin of APEC member Russia will not be present.

Trump's "America First" agenda is characterized by protectionist stances on global commerce, fossil fuel extraction and foreign conflicts.

It threatens alliances Biden has built on issues ranging from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to climate change and trade.

The Republican president-elect has threatened tariffs of up to 60 percent on imports of Chinese goods to even out what he says is an imbalance in bilateral trade.

China is grappling with a prolonged housing crisis and sluggish consumption that can only be made worse by a new trade war with Washington.

But economists say punitive levies would also harm the American economy.

'Criminals and drugs'

China is an ally of Western pariahs Russia and North Korea, and is building up its own military capacity while ramping up pressure on Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory.

It is also expanding its reach into Latin America through infrastructure and other projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.

Xi will on Thursday inaugurate South America's first Chinese-funded port, in Chancay, north of Lima.

In an article penned for the official El Peruano newspaper, Xi said Beijing was ready to work with Lima and other partners towards "true multilateralism" and "a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization."

Biden, meanwhile, will on Friday meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol -- key US allies in Asia.

Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Thursday that the White House was working on ensuring the trilateral alliance "will be an enduring feature of American policy in the Indo-Pacific going forward."

Seeking to cement the format under Trump, Sullivan told reporters travelling with Biden that the three countries would announce the "establishment of a secretariat" for their alliance on Friday.

China isn't the only country in Trump's economic crosshairs.

The incoming US leader has threatened tariffs of 25 percent or more on goods coming from Mexico -- another APEC member -- unless it stops an "onslaught of criminals and drugs" crossing the border.

Peru has deployed more than 13,000 members of the armed forces to keep the peace in Lima as transport workers and shop owners protested against crime and perceived government neglect. - AFP