Biden to head south for G7 and APEC summits
US President Joe Biden will attend two key summits and visit the Amazon rainforest in South America this month, in a trip totally overshadowed by Donald Trump’s election win.
US President Joe Biden will attend two key summits and visit the Amazon rainforest in South America this month, in a trip totally overshadowed by Donald Trump’s election win.
Mr Biden’s swansong at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro and the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru, will come as world leaders are more focused on how to deal with Mr Trump’s stunning comeback.
“He is planning to attend both conferences,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.
The return of Mr Trump’s America First agenda to the global stage threatens to upend Mr Biden’s embrace of international alliances on issues ranging from Ukraine and the Middle East to climate change and trade.
Ms Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden would travel to Lima from next Thursday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation regional forum.
He met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in California last year, although there is no word on whether a similar meeting is possible this time.
Mr Biden will then make what the White House said was the first visit by a sitting US president to Manaus in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest to meet indigenous leaders and others working to “protect this critical ecosystem”.
Finally, Mr Biden will attend his last G20 group of nations summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18 and 19, where the subjects will include climate change, it said. The president-elect is also expected to withdrawn from the Paris climate change accords for a second time.
Mr Biden has spent his four years in office trying to reshape US leadership on the world stage, after the disruption of Mr Trump’s first term as he criticised US allies and courted dictators such as North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Uncertainty now reigns about what Trump 2.0 will mean for the world. Mr Trump’s plans for huge tariffs could trigger a trade war with China and badly affect Australia, Canada, Mexico, Europe and other trading partners.
He is also mooting talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid speculation that he will try to push through a peace deal with Ukraine. Putin has said he will not attend this G20 because it would “wreck” the conference.
AFP
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