As its relations with China and Russia are deteriorating over territorial issues and its domestic opinion is sharply divided on further opening of its markets, Japan hosted and chaired the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit on Saturday and Sunday in the port city of Yokohama — the first APEC summit in 15 years in Japan.
The results of the APEC summit, which Prime Minister Naoto Kan chaired, and his meetings with the leaders of the United States, China and Russia show that he will continue to face difficulties both in trade policy and diplomacy while the approval rating of his Cabinet is falling.
The leaders from 21 Pacific Rim economies broadly agreed to seek to form an economically integrated community on the basis of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), a free and open trade and investment initiative proposed by the United States in 2006.