Two Authoritarian Leaders to Meet on Apec Summit Sidelines in Thailand
November 17, 2022
PHOTO: SUPPLIED/STUFF
rime Minister Jacinda Ardern will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Apec leaders summit in Bangkok, Thailand.
A face-to-face meeting with Xi has been confirmed among the bilateral meetings Ardern has lined up, it is understood, as world leaders assemble in Bangkok for an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum in the coming days.
A bilateral meeting with the authoritarian ruler of New Zealand’s largest trading partner is a rare event: Ardern last spoke directly to Xi a year ago, and the pair last met in-person when she visited Beijing in 2019.
Hopefully, it goes better for Ardern than it did for Canada’s Authoritarian Leader.