Political
APEC meetings in San Francisco
APEC 2023 United States was the year-long hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in the United States taking place in 2023. It was held in San Francisco. APEC United States 2023 marked the third time the United States hosted an APEC meeting, having previously hosted in 1993 in Blake Island and 2011 in Honolulu.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “APEC United States 2023”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
APEC 2023 United States was the year-long hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in the United States taking place in 2023. It was held in San Francisco. APEC United States 2023 marked the third time the United States hosted an APEC meeting, having previously hosted in 1993 in Blake Island and 2011 in Honolulu.
In November 2023, San Francisco started clearing out all of the homeless people from certain parts of the city in preparation for the summit. On September 25, a high-ranking official from the city's Public Works department emailed to city officials listing seven intersections to target, writing that due to the upcoming summit, he was "concerned about historical encampments that are close to priority areas". The San Francisco Chronicle noted that "All seven intersections are in the two neighborhoods that have long been at the epicenter of San Francisco’s unrelenting crises of homelessness and public drug markets."
Due to the sanctions imposed on him by the U.S. government, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu was not invited to the summit. In response, the Chinese foreign ministry reiterated its calls for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Lee, and "fulfil the due responsibility as APEC host, invite Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to the meeting". Eventually, the Hong Kong government announced Lee would not attend due to "scheduling issues", with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po attending in his place. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador initially announced he would not attend the summit due to disagreements with Peruvian president Dina Boluarte. However, he later changed his decision, saying he would attend. Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has been issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court following the Russo-Ukrainian war, did not attend the summit, with Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk attending in his place.
International coverage related to APEC 2023 focused on the summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on 15 November, held separately from the APEC summit at the Filoli estate in Unincorporated San Mateo County near the town of Woodside, California. APEC United States 2023 was the second APEC meeting for Xi Jinping in his third term, who was re-elected as the CCP General Secretary on 23 October 2022. Xi and Biden previously met virtually at the meeting hosted by New Zealand in 2021 – the first APEC summit of the Biden presidency – but Vice President Kamala Harris went in Biden's place to Thailand in 2022. (Xi hosted the 2014 APEC summit with U.S. President Barack Obama attending in Beijing. Obama and he had first met when Xi as Vice President, officially hosted by then-VP Biden, visited Washington in 2012.) A substantial portion of the issues facing the two leaders also involve APEC members and the deep histories of all nations in the APEC region. Anticipation in the U.S. for the 2023 meeting by the two leaders preceded the event in San Francisco.
In November 2023, demonstrations spanning a variety of issues, particularly objecting to Xi Jinping's presence in the United States, took place near San Francisco International Airport and meeting site prior to Xi Jinping's arrival at the APEC summit. Hundreds were bused in from across the U.S. by overseas Chinese hometown associations, with funding and coordination from the Consulate-General of China, Los Angeles, to welcome Xi. Multiple clashes were reported involving pro-Chinese government groups against Uyghur, Tibetan, Hongkonger, and Chinese dissident groups. The nonprofit group Human Rights in China stated that evidence of assaults and selective police enforcement would be submitted to the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. An investigation by The Washington Post found that "the most extreme violence was instigated by pro-CCP activists" and involved coordination by Chinese consular officials.
Taiwanese reporters were harassed and stopped from filming near the St. Regis Museum Tower.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China subsequently condemned the attacks on protesters and urged further law enforcement investigation. In August 2024, John Moolenaar, chair of the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Francisco Police Department to "hold the perpetrators accountable."
Text from the Wikipedia article “APEC United States 2023”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.