President of the United States Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the first day of a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders on Friday, ahead of a face-to-face meeting under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump’s election victory.

Biden and Xi are due to hold talks on Saturday, in what a US administration official said will likely be the last meeting between the sitting leaders of the world’s largest economies before Trump is sworn in in January.

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

Xi and Biden arrived in Lima on Thursday with other world leaders for a two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) heads of state meeting.

Created in 1989 with the goal of liberalizing trade regionally, APEC brings together 21 economies that together represent about 60 percent of world GDP and over 40 percent of global trade.

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The summit program would focus on trade and investment for what proponents called inclusive growth.

But uncertainty over Trump’s next move is now clouding the agenda – as it is 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 closed-door meeting in Lima to set the tone for the summit.

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

“America First”

At the summit, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia and Indonesia will participate, among others.

President Vladimir Putin of APEC member Russia will not attend.

Trump’s “America First” agenda is based on protectionist trade policies, increased domestic fossil fuel fuel extraction and avoidance of foreign conflicts.

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

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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 protracted housing crisis and sluggish consumption that can only be exacerbated by a new trade war with Washington.

But economists say punitive fees would also hurt the American economyand others further away.

“Criminals and Drugs”

China is allied with Western pariahs Russia and North Korea, and is building up its own military capabilities while increasing 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 on Thursday inaugurated South America’s first Chinese-funded port, in Chancay, north of Lima, even as a senior US official warned Latin American countries to be wary of Chinese investment.

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Biden will meet on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol – America’s most important ally in Asia.

Traveling with Biden, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the partner countries will announce the creation of a secretariat to ensure their alliance “will be an enduring feature of American politics.”

China is not the only country in Trump’s economic crosshairs.

The US leader-elect 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 shopkeepers began three days of protests against crime and perceived government neglect.

Source: AFP