As Trump whiplash looms, APEC closes in Peru with China’s President Xi front and center

Associated Press

LIMA, Peru (AP) — After two days of meetings in Lima that rarely ventured beyond platitudes in discussing the strategies of the region’s major economies, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum wraps up with a spirit of detente that many fear the annual summit may not see again for four years. The 21 leaders from economies bordering the Pacific, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, descended on Peru this week at a time when America’s incoming president, Donald Trump, has vowed to withdraw the U.S. from its leadership of a global free trade agenda.