Moon to discuss pandemic recovery at APEC summit

President Moon Jae-in is set to attend this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit Friday to meet with 20 other Pacific Rim leaders and discuss a path to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

APEC members from Pacific Rim nations including New Zealand, Russia, the US and Chile meet annually to ease trade barriers and expand growth. Their economies account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s population and about 60 percent of its gross domestic product.

But for a second straight year, the 21 leaders are meeting online. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, host of the meeting, said its goal was to seek a way out of a “once-in-a-century crisis.”

“The leaders’ summit will be an opportunity for us to reclaim our role as a leading global power responsible for tackling issues, from economy to public health to climate change. We will also solidify our commitment to the future agenda the coalition puts forward,” Cheong Wa Dae said.

At a CEO summit the previous day, Moon highlighted the need for a greener economy that reduces carbon emissions to net-zero and relies on hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources. APEC members should support underdeveloped countries in enjoying the same benefits, he added.

At a UN climate summit in October, Moon said South Korea will cut its emissions 40 percent by 2030 compared with 2018 levels. Moon has proposed going carbon-free by 2050, but experts have cast doubt over how realistic that goal is.

Meanwhile, friction is expected between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, over Taiwan’s bid to join a Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Both China and Taiwan have applied to join the pact, but Beijing opposes Taiwan’s inclusion because the democratically governed island refuses to acknowledge that it is part of China. This week, US lawmakers made an undisclosed trip to the island to show solidarity despite China’s protests.

The US has offered to host an APEC summit in 2023, which would mark its first since 2011, when then-President Barack Obama opened it in Hawaii. China and Russia have yet to back the proposal, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressing “reaching consensus through negotiation.”

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)