Category Archives: Apec summit

Apec summit ends with unity on WTO reform but not Gaza or Ukraine

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US gathering of Pacific Rim leaders most notable for meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, seen as a sign of easing China-US relations

Pacific Rim leaders have shown divisions over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza after a two-day summit of the Apec forum, while pledging support for reform of the World Trade Organization.

The 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum – among them Russia, China, the US and Australia – did not mention either conflict in their final joint communique. Instead an accompanying chair’s statement noted the bloc had “exchanged views on the ongoing crisis in Gaza”.

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Australia news live: school strike for climate protests draw huge crowds in Melbourne and Sydney; Albanese says Apec leaders ‘very interested’ in Tuvalu deal

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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says

Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:

If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.

At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.

I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.

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‘Planet Earth is big enough for two’: Biden and Xi meet for first time in a year

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US and Chinese presidents meet in San Francisco to discuss the economy, climate, military relations and Taiwan

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in California on Wednesday, exchanging handshakes and smiles as they embarked on face-to-face dialogues that both sides hope will stabilise US-China relations.

The US president opened his remarks by saying that tensions between the two countries should “not veer into conflict”.

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Politics live: cyber chief takes leave as defence department announces recall over ‘workplace matter’

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And here is the standard of some of the “debate” among senior parliamentarians.

Meanwhile, Australia’s sense of social cohesion is at its lowest recorded ebb.

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US bars Hong Kong leader John Lee from San Francisco Apec summit

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Chief executive, who is under US sanctions over role implementing city’s national security law, will not be invited to November event

The United States will not invite Hong Kong’s chief executive, who faces US sanctions, to visit San Francisco during November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

John Lee, Hong Kong’s top official, was placed under US sanctions in 2020 because of his role in implementing what Washington deems a “draconian” national security law when he was the city’s security secretary.

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Evacuation order issued for Condobolin; Albanese says renewables can fight inflation – as it happened

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Lachlan River is at major flood level and SES predicts a record peak of 7.8 metres on Monday. This blog is now closed

Poppy seed tea warning

Australians are being warned not to drink poppy seed tea, promoted on popular social media platforms, after a spate of poisoning cases across Australia linked to the home-brewed sedative.

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Albanese says Biden’s inflation-busting plan has opportunities for Australia

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Australian PM says he used meetings on sidelines of summits this week to talk about commercial openings in green energy

Anthony Albanese has revealed he discussed opportunities for Australia to commercialise new clean technology with the US during conversations with Joe Biden on the sidelines of international summits over the past week.

Winding up his nine-day travel program on Saturday in Bangkok – and as the Cop27 in Egypt moved into end game – Australia’s prime minister told journalists he spoke to Biden “about how Australia can benefit from his groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act” passed in the US earlier this year.

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Asia must not become arena for ‘big power contest’, says China’s Xi ahead of Apec summit

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Amid race for influence in Asia-Pacific region, Chinese president says no attempt to ‘wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times’

The Asia-Pacific is no one’s back yard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has said, warning against cold war tensions in a region that is a flashpoint of competition between Beijing and Washington.

Xi’s remarks on Thursday came ahead of Friday’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok, and were an apparent reference to US efforts with regional allies and partners to blunt what they see as China’s growing coercive economic and military influence in the region.

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Ardern says she must be able to raise concerns in Xi Jinping meeting without ‘retaliatory acts’

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Ahead of first meeting with China’s president in three years, New Zealand PM calls for environment where differences can be discussed

Jacinda Ardern has said she must be able to raise concerns with Beijing without prompting “retaliatory acts”, on the eve of her planned meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

The pair’s first in-person bilateral meeting since 2019 is due to take place on Friday evening on the sidelines of the Apec forum. It comes during a strained time in New Zealand-China relations, where ideological differences – and New Zealand’s economic reliance on China as an export market – have continued to grow.

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Speculation grows Anthony Albanese will meet Chinese leader during hectic summit season

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Prime minister to see Britain’s Rishi Sunak and leaders of Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and is likely to catch up with Joe Biden

Speculation is mounting that Anthony Albanese will meet either the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, or the president, Xi Jinping, during the hectic November summit season, which kicks off in Cambodia this weekend.

Australia’s prime minister leaves on Friday for the East Asia and Australia-Asean summits in Phnom Penh before travelling to the G20 in Bali and completing his trip at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok towards the end of next week.

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Chilean president cancels Apec and climate summits amid wave of unrest

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Sebastián Piñera confirms he will not hold summits in November and December, as government struggles with massive protests

Chile’s embattled president has been forced to cancel two major international summits after government concessions failed to defuse weeks of violent protests that have seen thousands of arrests, left at least 20 dead and sent shock waves across Latin America.

Related: Chile protesters: 'We are subjugated by the rich. It's time for that to end'

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