Threats to peace dominate Asia-Pacific leaders' summit

BANGKOK (AP) — Threats to peace and stability were dominating the agenda at a summit of Pacific Rim economies Friday in Bangkok, as leaders warned that war and tensions among the big powers threaten to unravel the global order.

Underscoring the risks, North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese territorial waters, and Japan said the weapon may have the range to strike anywhere in the United States. North Korea is under U.N. sanctions for past weapons displays but has not faced fresh sanctions this year because U.S. attempts were opposed by China and Russia in the Security Council.

U.S. officials said Vice President Kamala Harris would meet with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to discuss the missile launch, the latest of many such provocations by North Korea that raise the risks of conflict.

“Geopolitical tensions are detracting from peace and stability and undermining the rules based international order, which we all agree are essential," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told fellow leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum who began a two-day summit Friday.

APEC's long-term mission is promoting regional economic integration, but more immediate exigencies often dominate the agenda. That's true in Bangkok, as leaders appeal for an end to Russia's war on Ukraine and consider strategies for nursing along economic recoveries from the coronavirus pandemic while contending with food and energy crises, the need to cut the carbon emissions that cause climate change and other urgent tasks.

“The circumstances we face today as economic leaders, multiple overlapping global crises, could not be more pressing as they inundate our region," Albanese said.

Speaking to a...