ABSTRACT
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group was founded in Canberra in November 1989 by a dozen Pacific Rim countries, including Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the six ASEAN nations, and New Zealand. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan joined in 1991, and by 1994 the membership increased to 18, with the inclusion of Papua New Guinea, Mexico, and Chile. The APEC members are termed "economies" rather than countries or nations, in deference to China's sensitivities over the participation of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
