U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to sign an interim trade deal with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile. However, the summit was unexpectedly cancelled due to the social unrest rocking the South American country, leaving the two parties scrambling to find an alternative location.
Now Macau is being touted as a possible substitute, according to U.S. media reports.
It wasn’t clear whether U.S. officials would be able to find an alternate venue for the meeting with Xi, and APEC summit organizers had indicated that they had no plans to hold the event elsewhere.
Citing a trade source familiar with the issue, U.S.-based network Fox News reported that China has suggested Macau as a possible replacement venue.
This suggestion has not been corroborated by another source, but Bloomberg reported that three people familiar with the state of U.S.-China discussions said that the teams have been looking at other locations in recent weeks and that China could be among them.
Meanwhile, Wei Jianguo, former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce and current vice president of China Center for International Economic Exchanges, played down the effect of the cancellation at a press briefing in Singapore yesterday.
“I don’t think the cancellation of the APEC meeting will have any impact on the U.S.-China trade deal,” said Wei. “The venue could move to China, the U.S., or any third-party country. The two sides will surely talk about it.”
A nexus of Chinese-American business interests, the casino enclave Macau is thought to be particularly vulnerable to any fallout from the trade war.
The symbolic venue of Macau would serve as a reminder to the U.S. of what is at stake if trade talks break down. It is where big Republican backers, like Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands make most of their money. It is also where Trump was part of consortium of billionaire investors that unsuccessfully bid for a casino license, back in 2001.
Though it is yet to be confirmed by official sources, it is widely speculated that Xi will visit Macau in late December to preside over commemorative activities marking the 20th anniversary of the Macau Special Administrative Region. The Chinese president embarked on a three-day visit to Hong Kong in June 2017 to celebrate the neighboring city’s milestone 20th anniversary.
December 15, just five days prior to the handover celebrations, may provide to be a critical date in the coming months. That is when new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, such as laptops, toys and electronics, are scheduled to begin, but an agreement signed beforehand could avert them.
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