Ju Peng | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit. China’s foreign ministry said the two will exchange views on China-Japan relations, as well as international and regional issues of mutual concern. “China and Japan are close neighbors and important countries in the region… The two sides should meet the trend of the times, remain committed to peace and friendship, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, manage differences well and to work together to build a China-Japan relationship that meets the call of the new era,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also expects to meet Xi on the sidelines of the forum, Reuters reported, citing a government spokesman. — Lee Ying Shan
Saudi Arabia, Thailand food, energy cooperation ‘a good sign’, says APEC executive director
Saudi Arabia’s commitment to energy investment in Thailand is a “good sign” for diplomatic relations between the two countries, APEC Executive Director Kasemsit Pathomsak told CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah. In May, state-backed Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s national oil company in efforts to boost energy cooperation with Thailand and strengthen its presence in the region. In the same month, the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund said it would use Thailand as a hub for investment in Southeast Asia. “It’s a good sign … to definitely reconnect at a time when both economies are quite large and there are a lot of synergies here,” Pathomsak said, pointing to food and energy as areas of potential cooperation. The deals signal a further thaw in relations after the 30-year-old “Blue Diamond Affair,” which involved the theft of jewels from Saudi Arabia and the deaths of Saudi diplomats in Thailand. In January, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha became the first Thai head of government to visit the kingdom since the dispute. — Lee Ying Shan
Cambodia’s Hun Sen tests positive for Covid, won’t attend APEC
Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia Ahn Young-Joon | AFP | Getty Images Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen tested positive for Covid earlier this week and will not attend the APEC summit in Bangkok. Cambodia’s leader announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for Covid and had to cancel his meetings at the G-20 summit in Indonesia to return home early. — Lee Ying Shan
Biden will miss the summit. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the US
US Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Lieutenant Doug Emhoff (L) depart Joint Base Andrews en route to Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on November 16, 2022. Haiyun Jiang | AFP | Getty Images US President Joe Biden will not attend the APEC leaders’ meeting in Bangkok as he will attend his granddaughter’s wedding. Instead, Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the US “The Vice President will work with Thai leaders and civil society representatives to reaffirm and strengthen the US-Thailand Alliance and discuss our cooperation on a range of issues,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean- Pierre in an October statement. Earlier this week, Biden attended the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, where leaders of major economies discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, supply chain disruptions and energy and food security. — Lee Ying Shan
