On the official agenda, global free trade was the headline of the summit of the leaders of 21 member-economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Manila this week. But the rivalry of the region’s superpowers—the United States and China—grabbed the focus of the tense discussions behind the scenes of the conference, which was ringed by a steel cordon of security measures designed to ensure the safety of the leaders and delegates in the wake of the slaughter of defenseless civilians in Paris last Nov. 13 by the Islamic State (IS). Although the Philippines and China agreed not to raise the territorial disputes in the South China Sea during the summit, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Manila last week to meet with Del Rosario, according to officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The officials justified the meeting on the margins of the Apec forum, saying that Manila has “no control” over what the other economic leaders would be raising during the “Leaders’ Retreat”—a reference to the freewheeling discussions of the Apec leaders where they can raise issues.

Doronila, A. (2015, November 20). US-China rivalry takes Apec center stage. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A17.