Chinese President Xi Jinping sought to fill the vacuum left on Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump, after the latter snubbed the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. With Trump back in Washington to host the White House’s annual Halloween party, Xi hoped to portray Beijing as the leading global champion of free and open trade—taking on a role that has long been dominated by the United States.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at China ’s trade goals at this year’s APEC summit , potential U.S. military strikes on Venezuela , and allegations of Russia using a banned cruise missile against Ukraine .

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at China’s trade goals at this year’s APEC summit, potential U.S. military strikes on Venezuela, and allegations of Russia using a banned cruise missile against Ukraine.

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Fighting for the Limelight

Chinese President Xi Jinping sought to fill the vacuum left on Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump, after the latter snubbed the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. With Trump back in Washington to host the White House’s annual Halloween party, Xi hoped to portray Beijing as the leading global champion of free and open trade—taking on a role that has long been dominated by the