Scott Morrison plays down US, China APEC Summit division

The Prime Minister has played down deep divisions between the United States and China, after a weekend of rancour between the superpowers at the APEC Summit in Port Moresby.

At the same time, Scott Morrison is trying to straddle the proverbial barbed wire fence, saying Australia will continue to pursue its interests in the Pacific region.

The summit failed to issue a closing communique after the US and Beijing furiously disagreed over the wording of trade issues, leaving a cloud of uncertainty and bitterness, and strained relations in our own backyard.

But before he flew out of PNG, Mr Morrison talked down the significance of the dispute.

“There are still some points of disagreement between the two major players here,” Mr Morrison said.

“The fact they disagree on a number of things, that’ll be picked up at the G20 (summit) and this will be an on-going discussion. But that’s a matter for those parties.

“If they’re not going to agree, let’s just call it out.

“And we shouldn’t be pretending that they do. And we shouldn’t be trying to smooth that over.”

Australia, he said, had continued to “pursue our interests”.

“And our interests are to continue to work with our partners in the region,” he said.

“Our comprehensive strategic partner in China, and our dear and long-held friend and ally, the United States.

“These dialogues and discussions will continue."