Row on hold as Beijing party purge looms

Russian President Vladimir Putin used the summit as a platform to showcase Russia’s main Pacific port city as its window on the Asia-Pacific as it shifts strategic economic and political interests from Europe to the Pacific. But the summit unmasked deep divisions over worsening territorial disputes in the region.

Putin called on the 20 Apec heads of state to open up trade among their countries and warned against rising protectionism. But the spectre of territorial rows reared its head to mar the conference. Hu, speaking at a forum of Apec business leaders, echoed Putin’s theme.

Of course, Hu wasn’t calling on China, which is at the centre of the disputes around the islands, shoals and reefs in the South China Sea, over which China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims. Hu’s speech must have been sickening for Aquino, which helps explain why in the photo opportunities, Aquino didn’t appear in the front row of the leaders, making himself more comfortable chatting with friendly colleagues such as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The summit was held amid heightening disputes among China, Japan and South Korea over territories in the East China Sea, as well as the rival claims of Southeast Asian nations over islands in the South China Sea, all of which is claimed by China. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda shunned bilateral talks with Hu and with South Korea’s Lee Myung-Bak because of Japan’s separate dispute with Seoul. Ahead of the summit, the Philippines and Vietnam had harsh words against China, accusing it of carrying out a campaign of intimidation to enforce its claims.

In Vladivostok, China not only engaged in double talk; it also actively sought to drive a wedge among the Asean rival claimants. Hu held friendly talks on the sidelines with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. Sang told Hu that Hanoi was ready to work with Beijing to push for an early resolution of their disputes through peaceful consultations. While Hu was doing this backdoor lobbying on the Philippines’ allies in Asean, he pointedly kept the Filipino delegation in suspense until the last hour on the arrangements of the bilateral meeting with Aquino, thus rubbing salt on wounds.

The president had told his aides that the meeting with Hu was his top priority, not using the summit as an opportunity to attract investments into the Philippines. He was at the wrong place. Putin has said the opening of a new suspension bridge in Vladivostok and the modernising of the port city to the tune of US$21 billion were intended to draw investments into Russia’s far east.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs has dismissed the fiasco as “a scheduling challenge, but a challenge that turned out to be a bigger challenge than we anticipated.” 

At a press briefing before flying to Vladivostok, the president said he planned to conduct “a frank exchange of thought” with Hu in order “to divorce the talks from diplomatic niceties”. The president last met Hu during his state visit to China in August 2011. Since then, relations have been going downhill.

Experienced delegations to China have learned the lesson that the inscrutable Chinese keep guests guessing up to the last minute whether they will meet with leaders (or with what leaders in the hierarchy).

Now the outcome of the standoff over the Spratlys and Scarbourough Shoal is even more uncertain as Chinese vessels have made their presence permanent at the formations claimed by the Philippines as part of its exclusive economic zone. What’s certain is that Aquino will never have another chance to meet Hu again face-to-face. China is undergoing a leadership shakeup in the Communist Party Congress in two months. Hu is expected to step down next month. Vice President Xi Jinping, has been out of sight for more than a week amid rumours of a power struggle in the Politburo.