BANGKOK
\nThe Asia-Pacific is no one\u2019s backyard and should not become an arena for a big power contest, China\u2019s President Xi Jinping said in written remarks on Thursday, calling on the world to reject any cold war mentality.
\n\u201cNo attempt to wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times,\u201d Xi said in remarks prepared for a business event on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, which he had to withdraw from due to his meetings schedule.
\n\u201cWe should follow a path of openness and inclusiveness,\u201d he said in the speech, which was provided by organisers, adding the region should not turn into \u201can arena for big power contest.\u201d
\nNorth Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile as Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepared to meet, and warned Washington and its allies to expect a \u201cfiercer\u201d military response.
\n\u201cUnilateralism and protectionism should be rejected by all; any attempt to politicise and weaponise economic and trade relations should also be rejected by all.\u201d The APEC meeting follows a series of regional summits so far dominated by geopolitical tension over the war in Ukraine.
\nRussia is a member of both G20 and APEC but President Vladimir Putin has stayed away from the summits. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov will represent him at APEC.
\nXi, Kishida meet as N. Korea fires missile
\nThe leaders of China and Japan held their first face-to-face talks in three years on Thursday, after North Korea fired the latest in a record missile blitz that has sent nuclear fears soaring.
\nThe pair met on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum focused on pandemic recovery and the global economic turmoil unleashed by the war in Ukraine.
\n\u201cIt is important that we accelerate the building of a Japan-China relationship that is constructive and stable, through the efforts of both sides,\u201d Kishida said at the start of the meeting.
\nHis office had earlier condemned the latest launch by North Korea, which adds to a flurry that began this month and has included an intercontinental ballistic missile. Seoul and Washington have warned the North could be preparing to carry out a nuclear test, which would be its seventh.
\nXi\u2019s meeting comes a day after tensions simmered in Bali, where Xi criticised Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in person over alleged leaks of their closed-door meeting, a rare public display of annoyance by the Chinese leader. Trudeau is also in Bangkok.
\n\u2018No new Cold War\u2019
\nChina and Japan \u2014 the world\u2019s second- and third-largest economies \u2014 are key trading partners, but relations have soured as Beijing bolsters its military, projects power regionally, and takes a harder line on territorial rivalries.
\nChinese missiles fired during massive military drills around Taiwan in August are believed to have fallen within Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone, and Tokyo has protested at what it calls growing aerial and maritime violations in recent months.
\nXi last held face-to-face talks with a Japanese prime minister in December 2019, when he met Shinzo Abe in Beijing, although he has spoken to Kishida by phone. The APEC gathering, which French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also attend, caps a diplomatic blitz in Asia, following the G20 and the ASEAN summit in Cambodia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BANGKOK The Asia-Pacific is no one\u2019s backyard and should not become an arena for a big power contest, China\u2019s President Xi Jinping said in written remarks on Thursday, calling on the world to reject any cold war mentality. \u201cNo attempt to wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-296065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n