Wang Wen, dean of Renmin University’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, agreed major outcomes were unlikely, calling it “a high probability that talks could end without a breakthrough”.
Separately, a meeting Trump once hoped for with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears dead in the water, with Pyongyang rejecting repeated overtures.
EYEING AI SAFEGUARDS
Artificial intelligence will be a hot topic at APEC, after Xi and Trump agreed in September to set up a “communication channel” for AI incidents.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed fears that AI could pose a threat to humanity. But despite the countries’ fierce tech rivalry, calls for cooperation are growing due to shared concerns regarding bioweapons and infrastructure hacking.
Xi in September said Washington and Beijing have a responsibility to “develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control”.
APEC talks could build on the pair’s previous communication channel agreement, Stephen Wu, founder of Carthage Capital, told AFP.
“Both sides need an outcome, and a hotline is diplomacy’s cheapest: free to announce, free to ignore,” he said.
Meanwhile, a spying scandal enveloping Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, who was once widely expected to accompany Trump to APEC, threatens to cast a pall on AI discussions. US officials have accused him of sleeping with a woman they claim was working for Beijing.
ASEAN’S MURKY WATERS
In Manila, the Philippines’ year in the ASEAN chair looks set to come and go without fulfilling one of its top objectives: signing a South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC) with China.
The ongoing dispute over the waterway has cast a shadow over the bloc’s events all year. Philippine and Chinese sailors clashed a day before the start of a July summit, and a diplomatic row erupted at an October defence meeting.
