Pacific leaders agree on vaccines but not on US hosting APEC

By NICK PERRY and JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Pacific Rim leaders have agreed to do all they can to improve access to coronavirus vaccines and reduce carbon emissions, but failed to reach agreement on whether the U.S. should host talks in two years’ time. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were among those taking part in the online meeting of 21 leaders at the end of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which was being hosted virtually by New Zealand. The focus was on areas in which the unlikely mix of leaders could find common ground. But the failure of the group to endorse a U.S. bid to host APEC in 2023 pointed to some of the divisions that lie just beneath the surface.