A spat at the APEC summit nearly turned violent in Papua New Guinea overnight, with police reportedly being called in to defuse tensions.
Chinese officials tried to force their way into the office of the host nation's Foreign Minister, media reported, in an attempt to influence a draft communique.
"Police were posted outside the minister's office after they tried to barge in," an anonymous source told AFP. Australia's ABC News confirmed the report, saying Chinese officials pushed their way in, "calling out to the minister for two minutes of his time".
Security was called and the officials forced to leave, and police stepped in to guard the door.
"It's not appropriate for the minister to negotiate solo with the Chinese," one source reportedly said. "The Chinese negotiating officials know this."
Both China and Papua New Guinea denied anything had happened.
"It's not true. It's simply not true," said Chinese Foreign Ministry official Zhang Xiaolong.
In the end, their alleged efforts were for naught - for the first time in APEC history, no final leaders statement was issued because officials could not get China or the US to agree on trade.
The two superpowers have been engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war in recent months.
Asked why there was no communique, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill didn't hesitate to blame the "two big giants in the room".
China was reportedly angry about a reference in the draft statement to "unfair trade practices", which it took to be a jab from the US.
"These two countries were pushing each other so much that the chair couldn't see an option to bridge them," an anonymous diplomat told Reuters.
US Vice President Mike Pence said at the weekend his country's stiff tariffs on China were unlikely to be eased anytime soon, and rattled off a list of their beefs.
"They begin with trade practices, with tariffs and quotas, forced technology transfers, the theft of intellectual property. It goes beyond that to freedom of navigation in the seas, concerns about human rights."
Mr O'Neill plans to release a formal closing statement on his own, in place of the usual group communique.
Newshub.
