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WORLD NEWS Saturday 17 June 2017

China, South Korea put missile rift on hold to join AIIB meeting

recent decision to with- lies such as Britain and Aus-
draw from the Paris climate tralia. The U.S. has shunned
accord, which the presi- the initiative, while Japan
dent characterized as be- has also stayed away but
ing unfair to the U.S., expressed openness to
In a statement issued Fri- joint projects with the Ma-
day, the AIIB said it sup- nila, Philippines-based Asia
ports its members “to do Development Bank.
their part as expressed in Twenty five member coun-
the Paris Agreement” and tries sent representatives
pledged to prioritize invest- to Jeju, the lending bank’s
ment in renewable energy first meeting outside China,
projects and projects that South Korea’s finance min-
enhance the energy ef- istry said.
ficiency of existing infra- Some environmental ac-
structure. tivists have expressed con-
“We are ready to do our cerns that the AIIB may sup-
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, bottom center, poses with attendees for a group photo part in support of the Paris port coal.While the Asian
during a meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Jeju Island, South Korea, Friday, Agreement,” Jin Liqun, the lending bank pledged to
June 16, 2017. Putting aside a rift over a U.S. anti-missile system, top officials from China and South AIIB President, said in the support “low-carbon en-
Korea were attending a meeting of a China-backed Asian lending bank that opened Friday on statement. ergy,” in a report earlier this
the South Korean island of Jeju. The China-led AIIB added year, it said the bank also
(Bee Jae-man/Yonhap via AP) three more countries to might support oil- or coal-
By YOUKYUNG LEE officials. theme at this year’s meet- its membership on Friday, fired power plants if they
AP Business Writer South Korea was picked ing. The issue has taken bringing the total to 80 replace less-efficient facili-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — to host the gathering be- front stage following U.S. member countries. They ties or no other options are
China and South Korea put fore Beijing began protest- President Donald Trump’s include some American al- available.q
aside hard feelings over ing Seoul’s agreement to
Beijing’s objections to a U.S. let its ally the United States
anti-missile system to join deploy on its territory key
an annual meeting Friday components of the so-
on the South Korean island called Terminal High-Alti-
of Jeju of a China-backed tude Area Defense system.
Asian lending bank. South Korea and the U.S.
Chinese finance minis- say the system is needed
ter Xiao Jie and his Indian to deter a possible North
counterpart Arun Jaitley Korean attack but Beijing
were among those attend- sees it as a threat to its own
ing the Asian Infrastructure security because its radar
Investment Bank’s second can peer deep into north-
annual meeting, which will eastern China.
wrap up over the week- Since China began pro-
end. testing the THAAD deploy-
South Korean officials said ment in late February, visits
finance ministers of the by Chinese tourists have
two countries met for talks dropped sharply and some
on the meeting’s sidelines companies operating in
and reaffirmed their “solid China, South Korea’s larg-
economic ties,” agreed to est trading partner, were
continue collaboration as asked to suspend their op-
major founding members erations there.
of the AIIB. The brouhaha between
It was unclear if the meet- Seoul and Beijing stopped
ing will pave the way for hogging local headlines af-
a broader thaw in chilled ter South Korea’s new pres-
relations. South Korean ident took office in May
officials declined to say and ordered an environ-
whether the ministers dis- mental review before com-
cussed the thorny missile pleting the missile defense
issue, citing a confidential- system’s deployment.
ity agreement with Chinese Sustainable energy is a key