APEC leaders meet in Bangkok

Leaders from Asia-Pacific economies have gathered for a summit as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting kicks off in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said on Thursday the APEC meeting  is taking place at a “pivotal juncture” with the world facing multiple risks.

“That’s why APEC this year must rise above these challenges and deliver hope to the world at large,” he said in a statement.

APEC host Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of Thailand earlier urged participants at the summit to seek sustainable growth and development after economic and social challenges from COVID, climate change, and geopolitical rivalries.

“We can no longer live like we did. We need to adjust our perspective, ways of life and ways of doing business,” he said to an audience that included U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and China’s President Xi Jinping.

The summit’s schedule was disrupted by a North Korean suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.

Kamala Harris convened a meeting of leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to discuss the missile launch.

Prayuth however, did not refer to North Korea’s missile, which Japanese officials said landed just 200 km (130 miles) off Japan and had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in Bangkok for the APEC meeting, told reporters that North Korea had “repeated its provocations with unprecedented frequency”.

Established to promote economic integration, APEC groups 21 economies that account for 38% of the global population, and 62% of gross domestic product and 48% of trade.

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The APEC gathering is the third summit in the region in the past week. A Southeast Asian summit that included China, Japan and the United States was held in Cambodia while the Group of 20 (G20) nations met on the Indonesian island of Bali.

The earlier meetings were dominated by the war in Ukraine as well as tensions over Taiwan and the Korean peninsula.

Campaigners are keen to see leaders address food insecurity, surging inflation, climate change and human rights.

A reminder of such grassroots demands came as the anti-government protesters clashed with police after trying to overturn a police car plastered with posters of Prayuth and Xi.

An official in charge of the security for the summit said police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 350 Thai anti-government protesters after a clash about 10 km (6 miles) from the summit venue in the capital, Bangkok.

Zainab Sa’id