Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the U.S. delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in Thailand. The gathering lasts through Saturday and caps a week of high-level talks in Southeast Asia.
Climate talks in Egypt, the Group of 20 meeting in Indonesia and now APEC in Thailand.
It’s been a busy time for international gatherings — and many are now looking ahead at what sort of engagement will follow — especially when it comes to China.
One headline is the United States and China returning to at least talking about climate change — and possible areas of cooperation.
And there are the individual meetings.
Until this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping had been more hesitant to travel internationally than many world leaders.
That means the face-to-face meetings he’s been having this week have often been the first in about three years — sometimes longer.
Something to continue to watch for: plans for future meetings — and country visits.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos is heading to Beijing in early January.
President Biden says Antony Blinken will make his first visit to China as Secretary of State “sometime soon,” while the South China Morning Post reports Japan’s Foreign Minister “is expected” to travel to China in the near future.
Another theme of meetings: differing priorities.
For example, South Korea’s president urged China to play a bigger role in dealing with North Korea — while China’s leader called for stepped-up negotiations on a trade agreement — and increased cooperation in technology manufacturing.
