Chile cancels APEC and climate summits amid weeks of mass protests
- 5 years ago
Let's start with news that, after a wave of protests and riots in recent weeks, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has surprised much of the world by saying the South American country WON'T host the APEC summit scheduled for next month or the COP25 environmental conference set for December.
Our Won Jung-hwan reports.
The cancellation of a highly-anticipated summit of world leaders... fewer than 20 days out.
Given the level of social unrest in his country, it appears Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was left with no choice but to pull the plug.
"Our government, this has been a very difficult decision, a decision that causes us a lot of pain, has resolved not to host the APEC summit that was scheduled to take place in November nor the COP25 summit that was scheduled for the month of December,... As president for all Chileans, I have to always put the problems and interests of the Chileans, their necessities and their hopes first."
Chile's decision to cancel the APEC summit and COP25 environmental conference in December comes after several weeks of violent unrest.
The APEC summit, due to be hosted in Chile's capital, Santiago, on November 16th and 17th, was scheduled to bring together more than 20 world leaders,… including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In fact, Trump and Xi were expected to meet immediately after the summit to sign a "phase one" trade deal that could potentially end their protracted trade war.
Chile, in fact, offered a conducive setting for a deal since it's relatively neutral and a place where the two leaders were going anyway.
However, Chile's decision now throws into question when and where Trump and Xi will sign a trade deal.
But some experts are not overly concerned.
A person familiar with the talks said the cancellation has made the situation "awkward" but doesn't affect the progress being made.
The White House later said in a statement that the event's postponement would have no impact on the timeline of the signing of the trade agreement.
Just after the COP25 cancellation, the United Nations said it was currently exploring alternative hosting options for the climate summit.
It said officials are working out the best way to rearrange the event.
"The indication that we have so far, at this present moment, is that Chile would continue to serve as the presidency of the 25th session of the Conference of Parties. So the sort of leadership that they have been providing in the past months will continue."
Protests over a hike in metro fares spun out of control earlier this month,… prompting President Pinera to pledge sweeping social and economic reforms, a crackdown on widespread corruption and cabinet shakeup.
Riots, arson and protests over the past couple of weeks have left at least 18 dead, led to seven-thousand arrests and business losses of around 1-point-4-billion U.S. dollars.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
Our Won Jung-hwan reports.
The cancellation of a highly-anticipated summit of world leaders... fewer than 20 days out.
Given the level of social unrest in his country, it appears Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was left with no choice but to pull the plug.
"Our government, this has been a very difficult decision, a decision that causes us a lot of pain, has resolved not to host the APEC summit that was scheduled to take place in November nor the COP25 summit that was scheduled for the month of December,... As president for all Chileans, I have to always put the problems and interests of the Chileans, their necessities and their hopes first."
Chile's decision to cancel the APEC summit and COP25 environmental conference in December comes after several weeks of violent unrest.
The APEC summit, due to be hosted in Chile's capital, Santiago, on November 16th and 17th, was scheduled to bring together more than 20 world leaders,… including South Korean President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In fact, Trump and Xi were expected to meet immediately after the summit to sign a "phase one" trade deal that could potentially end their protracted trade war.
Chile, in fact, offered a conducive setting for a deal since it's relatively neutral and a place where the two leaders were going anyway.
However, Chile's decision now throws into question when and where Trump and Xi will sign a trade deal.
But some experts are not overly concerned.
A person familiar with the talks said the cancellation has made the situation "awkward" but doesn't affect the progress being made.
The White House later said in a statement that the event's postponement would have no impact on the timeline of the signing of the trade agreement.
Just after the COP25 cancellation, the United Nations said it was currently exploring alternative hosting options for the climate summit.
It said officials are working out the best way to rearrange the event.
"The indication that we have so far, at this present moment, is that Chile would continue to serve as the presidency of the 25th session of the Conference of Parties. So the sort of leadership that they have been providing in the past months will continue."
Protests over a hike in metro fares spun out of control earlier this month,… prompting President Pinera to pledge sweeping social and economic reforms, a crackdown on widespread corruption and cabinet shakeup.
Riots, arson and protests over the past couple of weeks have left at least 18 dead, led to seven-thousand arrests and business losses of around 1-point-4-billion U.S. dollars.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.