PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific leaders failed to agree on a communique at a summit in Papua New Guinea on Sunday for the first time in their history as deep divisions between the United States and China over trade and investment stymied cooperation.

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O' Neill, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern look at Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the signing of a joint electricity deal between Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United States for Papua New Guinea, during the APEC Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea November 18, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray

Competition between the United States and China over the Pacific was also thrown into focus with the United States and its Western allies launching a coordinated response to China’s Belt and Road program.

“You know the two big giants in the room,” Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said at a closing news conference, when asked which of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group could not agree.

O’Neill, who was chairman of the meeting, said the sticking point was over whether mention of the World Trade Organization and its possible reform should be in the Leaders’ Declaration.

“APEC has got no charter over World Trade Organization, that is a fact. Those matters can be raised at the World Trade Organization.”

The multilateral trade order that APEC was established in 1989 to protect is crumbling as Chinese assertiveness in the Pacific and U.S. tariffs strain relations in the region and divide loyalties.

A Leaders’ Declaration has been issued after every annual APEC leaders’ meeting since the first in 1993, the group’s website shows.

O’Neill said that as APEC host, he would release a Chairman’s Statement, though it was not clear when.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not attend the meeting and nor did his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attended instead of Trump.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived to great fanfare on Thursday and was feted by PNG officials. He stoked Western concern on Friday when he met Pacific island leaders to pitch his Belt and Road initiative.

The United States and its allies, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, countered on Sunday with a $1.7 billion plan to deliver reliable electricity and the internet to PNG.

PACIFIC THEATER

Wang Xiaolong, a senior economic official with China’s APEC delegation, said of the failure to agree on a joint statement that it was “not exactly a sticking point between any particular two countries”.

Most members affirmed their commitment to preserving the multilateral trading system and supported a robust and well-functioning WTO, he said.

“Frankly speaking, we are in a very early stage of those discussions and different countries have different ideas as to how to take that process forward,” Wang said.

One diplomat involved in the negotiations said tension between the U.S. and China, bubbling all week, erupted when the Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, objected during a leaders’ retreat to two paragraphs in a draft document seen by Reuters.

One mentioned opposing “unfair trade practices” and reforming the WTO, while another concerned sustainable development.

“These two countries were pushing each other so much that the chair couldn’t see an option to bridge them,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“China was angered that the reference to WTO blamed a country for unfair trade practices.”

Pence said in a blunt speech on Saturday there would be no end to U.S. tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods until China changed its ways. On Sunday, as he left the PNG capital of Port Moresby, he listed U.S. differences with China.

“They begin with trade practices, with tariffs and quotas, forced technology transfers, the theft of intellectual property. It goes beyond that to freedom of navigation in the seas, concerns about human rights,” Pence told reporters.

Pence also took direct aim at Xi’s signature Belt and Road initiative, saying in his speech countries should not accept debt that compromised their sovereignty.

“We do not offer a constricting belt or a one-way road,” he said.

CENTER OF ATTENTION

The Belt and Road plan was first proposed in 2013 to expand land and sea links between Asia, Africa and Europe, with billions of dollars in infrastructure investment from China.

APEC host PNG is home to 8 million people, four-fifths of whom live outside urban areas and with poor infrastructure, and found itself feted by superpowers.

Xi opened a Beijing-funded boulevard, while Pence talked of a 400-year old King James Bible in the PNG parliament that he had played a role in bringing to the country.

Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, has for decades enjoyed largely unrivalled influence among Pacific island nations. China has recently turned its attention to the region with a raft of bilateral financing agreements to often distressed economies.

Slideshow (2 Images)

PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato said his country did not need to pick sides.

“For us, we welcome Chinese investment, we welcome U.S. investment. Our foreign policy is to be friends of all, enemies of none.”

(This story was refiled to change the reference to Wang Yi’s title in paragraph 17)</s>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - The Latest on the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Papua New Guinea (all times local):

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Papua New Guinea were unable to agree on a final communique.

Trudeau told reporters Sunday that the chair of the meeting, Papua New Guinea, will issue a statement instead.

He says there were differences on trade issues among several countries including China and the U.S., which have been engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff war this year.

A meeting of world leaders in Papua New Guinea has highlighted divisions between global powers the U.S. and China and a growing competition for influence in the usually neglected South Pacific.

The 21 nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby struggled to bridge differences on issues such as trade protectionism, making it likely their final statement Sunday will be an anodyne document.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and China's President Xi Jinping traded barbs in speeches on Saturday. Pence accused China of intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and unfair trading practices.

In Port Moresby, the impact of China's aid and loans is highly visible but the U.S. and allies are countering with efforts to finance infrastructure in Papua New Guinea and other island states.</s>Digital economy, free trade and the rising of economic protectionism topped the agenda both at the APEC summit in Port Moresby and during the Economic Leaders' Week, which preceded the event, as top government officials from the bloc's 21 economies were drafting final documents for the big meeting.

Even though two leaders of global superpowers — Russia's Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump — were not in attendance, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Vice President Mike Pence led the delegations from Moscow and Washington respectively.

Medvedev's plane touched down at Jacksons Airport in Port Moresby on Saturday. He was greeted by the host country's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, with whom he later had bilateral talks. Russia helped to organise the summit by shipping airport equipment to Papua New Guinea.

Moscow has a lot to share with other APEC member when it comes to digital transformation. Thanks to initiatives passed by Dmitry Medvedev's government, services provided by the state have undergone a massive transformation in recent years, with many of them, such as property registration, tax payments and regulation procedures becoming accessible through online portals.

Another important issue currently being discussed by the bloc is the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) — a long-term goal of the organization that will allow free trade between Pacific Rim economies from China to Chile.

However, with the rise of protectionism and with the increasing risks of "tariff wars" between the bloc's members — the US, China and Canada, adopting initiatives such as the FTAAP may take quite a long time.

During the course of the APEC meetings, the "bidding game" for Papua New Guinea's attention between key APEC players in terms of future investments opportunities and potential contracts were clearly in sight.

But what looked like purely charitable effort on the outside could very well pass as camouflage for a geopolitical "dogfight under the carpet".

China wants to build and maintain political influence in Papua New Guinea, Washington and Canberra wouldn't want to miss their slice of the pie either.

READ MORE: 'APEC Effect': How Hosting of Big Int'l Event May Transform Papua New Guinea

Australia is Papua New Guinea's largest foreign donor, so Canberra decided to step up its efforts in countering Beijing's growing influence.

​While China invested heavily in local businesses and civilian infrastructure, Washington and Canberra made a military move, announcing the creation of a joint military base on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

​Manus Island recently became known as "The Prison Island" thanks to the notorious Australian Regional Processing Centre for refugees and asylum seekers. Human rights activists often criticized Canberra for inappropriate conditions in which the detainees were kept at the facility. The centre was closed down in 2017, but the 400 refugees and asylum seekers who remain in camps on "the Prison Island" wrote an open letter to APEC delegates, calling for help.

​The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an intergovernmental forum of 21 Pacific Rim nations. Last year's APEC summit was held in Danang in Vietnam. Papua New Guinea was the first developing country to host the APEC meeting. Because of the lack of accommodation options on shore, in PNG's capital, the organizers moored three Australian cruise ships in Port Moresby's harbour, which, besides housing, were used as venues for the APEC CEO summit.</s>PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - The United States and China swapped barbs over trade, investment and regional security at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit on Saturday, as growing fault lines among members suggested little prospect of consensus at the weekend meeting.

Speaking in the Papua New Guinean capital, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said there would be no end to American tariffs until China changed its ways, after its president, Xi Jinping, warned that the shadow of protectionism and unilateralism was hanging over global growth.

Illustrating the impasse between the world’s two largest economies, a diplomat involved in negotiating an APEC leaders’ declaration told Reuters trade was a sticking point, and the host nation was having trouble finding language acceptable to all.

Pence took direct aim at Xi’s flagship Belt and Road program, which China has been promoting to Pacific nations at APEC, saying countries should not accept debt that compromised their sovereignty.

“We do not offer constricting belt or a one-way road,” Pence told the APEC CEO summit, a precursor to the official leaders’ meeting, held on a cruise liner tethered in Port Moresby’s Fairfax Harbour.

China’s efforts to win friends in the resource-rich Pacific have been watched warily by the traditionally influential powers in the region - Australia and the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump is not attending the APEC meeting, nor is his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Xi, who is staying in Port Moresby, has been feted by PNG officials and stoked Western concern on Friday when he held a meeting with Pacific island leaders, in which he pitched the Belt and Road initiative.

Speaking before Pence, Xi said there was no geopolitical agenda behind the project, which was unveiled in 2013 and aims to bolster a network of land and sea links with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

“It does not exclude anyone. It is not an exclusive club closed to non-members, nor is it a trap as some people have labeled it.”

There have been concerns that small countries that sign up for infrastructure projects will be left with debt burdens they cannot service, something Pence highlighted.

“Do not accept foreign debt that could compromise your sovereignty. Protect your interest. Preserve your independence. And just like America, always put your country first,” he said.

Sri Lanka formally handed over commercial activities in its main southern port of Hambantota to a Chinese company last December as part of a plan to convert $6 billion of loans that Sri Lanka owed China into equity.

Soon after Pence spoke, Australia said it was joining the United States and Japan in a partnership that would help countries in the region develop infrastructure priorities, a possible alternative to China’s Belt and Road.

Pence also said the United States would join Australia to help Papua New Guinea build a navy base on its Manus Island, which was a U.S. base in World War Two.

The plan comes after China emerged as a possible developer of the deep-water port, which analysts say could impact the West’s ability to navigate in the Pacific while offering China a site close to U.S. bases in Guam.

“The United States of America will continue to uphold the freedom of the seas and the skies, which are so essential to our prosperity,” Pence said.

In a meeting that could irritate Beijing, Pence had talks with Taiwan’s envoy to APEC, Morris Chang.

Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province of “one China”, ineligible for state-to-state relations, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Despite Taiwan’s lack of diplomatic recognition by the majority of countries, APEC allows it to participate as an economic, rather than political, entity.

Pence later told reporters traveling with him he would “carry back” a Taiwan proposal for a free trade agreement.

There were differences between other APEC members, with some calling for radical change to trade systems while others argued for a return to the status quo on globalization.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned globalization was leaving some people behind and fuelling inequality.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison mounted a defense of free trade, saying a billion people had been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1991 because of the jobs and cheaper goods that free trade brought.

Xi told delegates that the shadow of “protectionism and unilateralism” hung over global growth and erecting barriers and cutting ties was short-sighted and doomed to fail.

But Pence made it clear that the United States would not back down, saying it could more than double the $250 billion of Chinese goods subject to tariffs.

“The United States though will not change course until China changes its ways,” Pence said.

Trump and Xi are due to meet at a G20 meeting in Argentina late this month, raising some hope that trade tension could ease.

Trump is pressing China to reduce its huge bilateral trade surplus and make sweeping changes to its policies on trade, technology transfers and high-tech industrial subsidies.

China has denied that U.S. companies are forced to transfer technology and sees U.S. demands on rolling back its industrial policies as an attempt to contain China’s economic rise.

Sebastián Piñera, the president of Chile, which will host next year’s APEC, called on the two powers to find a resolution.

“This is a very good opportunity to ask the U.S. and China to find ways to end their tariff and trade war which benefits no one,” he told the forum.

“Both countries will have to change course.”</s>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Papua New Guinea hosts leaders from Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Russia and China, this weekend in a coming-out party for the jungle-clad nation that is regarded as one of the world's last frontiers for trade and investment.

The largely undeveloped South Pacific nation of more than 8 million mostly subsistence farmers hopes the rare world attention generated by its hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Economic Cooperation meetings will highlight its potential and draw more investors and aid. But its deeply entrenched troubles, including widespread poverty, corruption and lawlessness, also stand to be scrutinized.

More than 1,000 tribes with over 800 different languages are scattered across 22 provinces, including in its capital Port Moresby and faraway mountain hinterlands and islands. Inadequate infrastructure and potholed roads, however, have kept apart diverse tribal groups more than the language barrier. English, which is widely spoken, and a creole English called Tok Pisin, have helped bridge the divide. The isolation has helped preserve ancient traditions in the most remote villages, where belief in black magic and sorcery has persisted in an era of great technological advances.

The APEC host is the most challenged on many counts in the free-trade club, which includes the world's leading economic heavyweights — the United States, China and Japan — and accounts for 60 percent of global gross domestic product and nearly half of world trade. Although it's resource rich, Papua New Guinea is the 21-member bloc's most impoverished and youngest member. It declared independence from its Australian colonizer only in 1975. It was helped by Australia, which remains its biggest aid provider, along with China, the United States and New Zealand to deal with the logistical challenges of hosting a year of APEC meetings, including construction of the main venue.

When it joined APEC in 1993, Papua New Guinea had to court the backing of Asian neighbors to gain entry into the prestigious bloc of Pacific Rim nations and explain that it's located in the region, its former prime minister, Julius Chan, said. "First they don't think that PNG was an Asian country," Chan told the Nation newspaper. "I insisted that we are right in the center of the Asia and the Pacific."

Crime and violence in Papua New Guinea are notoriously prevalent based on anecdotal accounts and media reports, and are a national concern. Statistics are at best spotty but a World Bank study several years ago reported that crime levels have stayed consistently high for more than a decade, with robbery and assault the most common. Family and sexual violence were highly prevalent too and homicide rate in at least two areas, including the capital, is among the highest in the world.

Concern over lawlessness has made hosting 20 world leaders and more than 12,000 APEC delegates Papua New Guinea's biggest security worry. "It is risky for expatriates to travel alone at any time of the day or night," a government do's and don'ts primer warned foreign delegates, some of whom were billeted in luxury cruise ships along with visiting journalists because there weren't enough hotels in Port Moresby.

Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand provided armed personnel, navy ships, jets and surveillance helicopters to help augment security. Still, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence decided to spend nights in Cairns city in neighboring Australia while attending the meetings on behalf of President Donald Trump, who decided not to go.</s>US, allies to bring electricity to most of Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — The U.S., Japan, New Zealand and Australia said they'll bring electricity to 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's people by 2030, boosting the West's response to growing Chinese influence in the South Pacific.

The four countries and Papua New Guinea signed the electricification agreement Sunday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting behind held in the capital Port Moresby.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said it shows how strongly the U.S. and its allies are committed to the region.

"The commitment of the United States of America to this region of the world has never been stronger," he said.

"It's remarkable to think of the impact this will have on people's lives across this nation. Electricity will drive economic growth but as others have said, it will simply improve the quality of life for people across Papua New Guinea for generations to come."

Only about 20 percent of Papua New Guinea's 8 million people have electricity and for a significant proportion of them the supply is not reliable. Most Papua New Guineans live in the highlands and other remote areas.

The announcement comes after the U.S., Japan and Australia in July announced a joint effort to finance infrastructure in Pacific island states which China has aggressively wooed with loans and aid.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said bringing electricity to most of Papua New Guinea would be "transformational" for the country.</s>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - The Latest on the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Papua New Guinea (all times local):

Four countries including the U.S. have signed up to an effort to bring electricity to 70 percent of Papua New Guinea's people by 2030.

Australia, Japan, the U.S. and New Zealand on Sunday signed an agreement to work with Papua New Guinea's government on electrification.

It's the latest sign of great power competition in the South Pacific, where China is vying with the U.S. and its allies for influence.

Only about 20 percent of Papua New Guinea's 8 million people have electricity and for a significant proportion of them the supply is not reliable. Most of the population lives in the highlands and other remote areas.

World leaders are meeting this weekend in Papua New Guinea's capital for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping were seen chatting for a minute and a half on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting Saturday evening, hours after making speeches that strongly attacked each country's trade and other policies.

Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim nations at the meeting were gathering for a group photo in the APEC summit's signature colorful shirts when the encounter happened.

Video shows Pence talking animatedly with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when Xi arrived in the room. Xi greeted other leaders and stopped to talk with Pence, an interpreter showing up as the conversation began.

Neither side has commented on what was discussed.

In his speech, Pence said there would be no letup in President Donald Trump's policy of combating China's mercantilist trade policy and intellectual property theft that has erupted into a tit-for-tat tariff war between the two world powers this year.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has met with the head of Taiwan's delegation to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

The U.S. doesn't have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, but is obliged by an act of Congress to help with the island's military defense.

A U.S. official told the media pool traveling with Pence that the vice-president had a "pull-aside" meeting with Morris Chang, the octogenarian founder of a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing giant. The official didn't give other details.

Taiwan is a member of the 21 nation APEC, which is having its annual leaders meeting in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby.

China's president says the world faces a choice of cooperation or confrontation in a speech to a summit of leaders that is divided by tensions stemming from increased U.S. protectionism.

President Xi Jinping expressed support for global free trading system that has underpinned his country's rise to world's second-biggest economy.

Xi says, "The future of mankind hinges on the choices we make."

Leaders of Pacific Rim countries that make up 60 percent of the world economy are meeting in the capital of Papua New Guinea for an annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.</s>PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — A ubiquitous sight in Papua New Guinea's capital is men, women and children chewing betel nut combined with slaked lime and mustard bean, turning lips, teeth and tongue a dark red, and producing a mild high.

Along with drinking alcohol in public, chewing betel nut and spitting out the messy remains has been aggressively discouraged in Port Moresby this year. It's part attempt to clean up the coastal city of 300,000 as world leaders briefly descend on it for a Pacific Rim summit this weekend and part the latest episode of an ongoing struggle to control betel nut after previous attempts to completely ban it in the city caused chaos.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill wants Papua New Guinea, one of the least urbanized countries in the world, to present its best face for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. Faces with red lips and stained teeth are not part of that vision.

At the Koki Buai market, more than two dozen vendors laid out mounds of the green betel palm fruit and small piles of mustard beans as an excited crowd was kept under control by threats and admonishments from heavies, some wielding bits of wood, employed to keep order.

"I'm happy that APEC has come to PNG and I'm happy the leaders are here, everyone from other countries," said vendor Rodney Pupu. "I want to welcome all of you."

The market is one of several set up in Port Moresby over the past several years as a compromise that allows the trade in "green gold" to continue.

Chewing betel nut has deep cultural roots in Papua New Guinea's tribal societies but in the capital has morphed into addiction and lucrative business. Medical experts says prolonged use causes oral cancer.

A total ban imposed in Port Moresby in 2013 spiraled into conflict that caused deaths and property damage and deprived thousands of people of livelihoods, development economist Busa Jeremiah Wenogo wrote in a blog. Another total ban was threatened earlier this year but was wound back after tear gas fired by police to disperse vendors drifted into a school, Wenogo said. There were also allegations police stripped vendors naked as a form of punishment.

The current solution — designated markets — also has its problems because of cramped conditions and confrontations between rival factions, he said.

At Koki Buai, handfuls of the fruit were selling for 2-5 kina (60 cents to $3) and mustard beans for 1-2 kina. Pupu said he can make 1,000 kina ($300) in a week and double that if a rugby match — a national obsession — is happening in the town.

Before the market, which some of the vendors credited the minister for APEC Justin Tkatchenko with setting up, Pupu said selling was a cat-and-mouse game with police.

Asked if he was concerned about the high cost of hosting the summit and controversies such as the import of 40 luxury Maserati cars to transport VIPs, Pupu deferred to the market's boss, a feisty woman hovering nearby.

"I strongly disagree that the government decided to take so much money and buy the Maseratis when we actually have cars in Papua New Guinea that we could use to transport delegates," he said. "We could have saved that money to bring further development to the country."

What's been called Papua New Guinea's global coming-out party has caused both pride and discord and underlined the yawning gulf between a small well-educated minority and the poor, who include the 85 percent of people living in the highlands and other remote areas.

City social services worker Tony Sari said the country needs development but also acknowledged that the summit expenses were unpopular outside the capital, where basic public services such as health and education are limited.

"It's like living. You have good days and bad days," he said, weighing up the pros and cons.

It was clear, Sari said, that the overhaul of Port Moresby has made an impact.

When he travels in his National Capital District Commission vehicle, people sometimes shout "APEC! APEC!" he said, amused to find himself getting credit.

At a busy supermarket, 21-year-old groceries bagger Catherine Lapsie said she was "really happy" her small country is getting attention.

The restrictions on public drinking and betel nut chewing could change behavior for the better, she said, but was also afraid of what might happen once the foreign dignitaries leave.

"I feel something terrible will happen," she said. "They said after the APEC meeting, something will go on," Lapsie said, grimacing while trying to explain her fears in English.

Switching to a local language, she explained that more tourists might come and prices increase, making life more difficult for ordinary Papua New Guineans.</s>PORT MORESBY (AFP) - In a last-minute U-turn, US Vice-President Mike Pence will spend the night in Papua New Guinea, where he is attending a regional summit, changing plans to fly in and out of Australia, which had led to complaints of a lack of commitment.

Mr Pence had originally been due to shuttle to the Apec talks from the northern Australian city of Cairns rather than stay overnight in Port Moresby, which is hosting the gathering for the first time.

But the White House confirmed that Mr Pence would instead spend the night in the Pacific island nation, shrugging off its reputation for violence and petty crime.

"Staying in PNG is better for the schedule and the office was able to make it work, from a logistical and security standpoint," a senior administration official told AFP.

The port city is effectively on lockdown with a heavy police presence and warships from the US, Australia and New Zealand patrolling offshore.

Due to security and a dearth of hotel rooms, most journalists and delegates are billeted on two hulking cruise ships moored in the harbour with ultra-tight security access.

Although the threat posed by terrorism in Papua New Guinea is considered minimal, the Melanesian country has developed a reputation for lawlessness.

Feared street gangs known as "raskols" have made carjackings common and the country has among the highest rates of rape and domestic violence in the world.

Mr Pence's decision to stay in Papua New Guinea now puts him in the same boat as China's President Xi Jinping, whose delegation has locked down the Stanley Hotel, where Chinese lanterns abound and a pagoda has been constructed in his honour.

Some of the leaders are thought to be staying at the Airways hotel - "one of the world's most unique airport hotels", according to its website.

Hotel guests describe security arrangements at the Airways as "immense" even without the Apec summit, complete with shotgun-toting guards at the gates.

"But that is nothing compared with what we see now," a resident said on Saturday, citing snipers on the roof, parts of the hotel sealed off, road blocks and special clearance required for cars.</s>PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - The C in APEC stands for Cooperation. But when the two biggest members are fighting a trade war and using the forum to attack each other’s policies, it was always going to be hard work delivering on that.

The weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby was one of open disagreement, led by disputes between the United States and China over trade, security, and who would be the better investment partner for the region.

As APEC approaches its 30th anniversary, the failure to agree on a communique for the first time calls into question its relevance in a crowded summit calendar and as the Trump Administration makes clear its aversion to multilateralism.

“It does mark the death of APEC’s founding trade vision,” Euan Graham, executive director of La Trobe Asia at Australia’s La Trobe University, said on Twitter, adding APEC was the “most disposable of the regional summits”.

Rather than cooperation, the theme seemed to be conflict and containment as Beijing and Washington directly criticized each other’s policies and staked their claims as to why they were the security and investment partner the Pacific should choose.

“It’s not even supposed to be binding, it’s APEC,” said one diplomat involved in negotiations for the communique, surprised that the members couldn’t agree on what is usually a humdrum summary of issues discussed.

“China and the U.S. hijacked the APEC spirit, I suppose.”

The United States even preferred its own terminology of Indo-Pacific, which it defines as running from “the western shores of Latin America to the furthest reaches of the Indian Ocean”, with Pence mentioning APEC five times and Indo-Pacific 41 times in his APEC speech on Saturday.

Founded in 1989 with a view to fostering trade and economic ties around the Pacific Ocean, it operated at a ministerial level until 1993 when U.S. President Bill Clinton established the annual leaders meeting. Each meeting had produced a joint statement at its conclusion, until Sunday.

“This is very concerning from a systemic perspective. The WTO faces similar challenges,” said Charles Finny, a Wellington-based trade consultant and a former New Zealand government trade negotiator.

In an editorial, Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times said the absence of a communique was “not a big deal”, and placed more significance on an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two leaders are expected to meet at the G20 summit, which starts in Argentina next week.

“It is hoped Washington makes serious preparations for the summit and not pin its hopes on exerting pressure,” said the tabloid, which is known for its nationalistic stance.

Still, there did seem to be some Chinese concern over the communique, with officials rebuffed on Saturday when they tried to meet PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato on the issue.

Pato confirmed to Reuters that Chinese officials had wanted to see him, but said they had not made “necessary arrangements”.

As the APEC host it was Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) role to produce a communique. But the hostility and conflicting visions on display meant few blamed the group’s poorest country for being caught between two feuding superpowers.

“In these times, chairing a gathering such as the leaders that we had over the last few days is no easy task,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, adding Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill had shown great integrity and leadership.

Indeed, one big change was long-forgotten Pacific nations found themselves aggressively courted by the two big-spending superpowers competing for influence in the strategically important ocean.

Pence said the United States would join Australia to help PNG build a navy base on its Manus Island, which was a U.S. base in World War II, after China had emerged as a possible developer of the deep-water port.

Analysts had said a Chinese presence on Manus could have impacted the West’s ability to navigate in the Pacific while offering China a site close to U.S. bases in Guam.

And the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand unveiled a $1.7 billion plan to bring electricity and the internet to much of PNG, a collective counter-attack to the lure of Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road program.

“Whatever concepts have been raised by the United States or China or Australia doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the same concepts for Papua New Guinea,” Wera Mori, PNG Commerce and Industry Minister, told Reuters by phone.

“We have our own situations and our own priorities to focus on.”
The APEC summit in Papua New Guinea ends without a communiqué for the first time in the forum's history.