Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Saturday pledged to open China’s economy further as leaders of Asia-Pacific nations sought new free-trade options following US president-elect Donald Trump’s victory at the polls on promises to scrap or renegotiate trade deals.
All eyes were on China at this year’s APEC summit in Lima, Peru, just over a week after Trump’s surprise victory dashed hopes of the largest-ever US-proposed trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), coming to fruition.
US President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to counter China’s rise, but he has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal signed by 12 economies in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, excluding China.
Following a meeting with Obama, Xi said Beijing’s relationship with Washington was at a “hinge moment” and called for a smooth transition.
Xi has been selling an alternate vision for regional trade by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which as it stands excludes the Americas.
“China will not shut its door to the outside world but open more,” Xi said in a keynote address at APEC. “We’re going to ... make sure the fruits of development are shared.”
With the fate of the TPP uncertain, China’s talks on RCEP, which include Australia, India and more than a dozen other countries, are seen as perhaps the only path to the broader Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific that APEC aspires to.
Meanwhile, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at Western “bullying” and “hypocrisy” during his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said when it came to alliances, the US could not be trusted.
“Historically, I have been identified with the Western world. It was good until it lasted,” he told the Russian leader in their meeting at the summit.
“And of late, I see a lot of these Western nations bullying small nations. And not only that, they are into so much hypocrisy,” he said, according to a transcript of Saturday’s meeting provided by his office.
Putin congratulated Duterte on his May election win and said he had done a lot in a very short time to build trust and confidence between Russia and the Philippines.
Prior to leaving for Peru, Duterte said he might follow Russia and withdraw from the International Criminal Court because of Western criticism of his deadly war on drugs.
He said if Russia and China decided to create a “new order” in the world, he would be first to join.
In related news, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday that Xi, in separate meetings with the leaders of the Philippines and Vietnam, said disputes over the South China Sea should be resolved bilaterally.
Xi told Duterte “to actively mull maritime cooperation and promote positive interaction on the sea,” turning the South China Sea into “an opportunity for bilateral friendly cooperation,” Xinhua reported.
That sentiment was echoed by Duterte, Xinhua reported.
The Philippines president has overseen a rapid improvement of previously frosty relations between the two countries since taking office in June.
The Philippines “is willing to properly address maritime issues with China through dialogue and consultation,” Xinhua said.
Xi made similar overtures to Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang at the summit in Lima.
He said the two countries should “solve disputes through bilateral consultations and dialogues, adhere to a cooperative path of ‘shelving differences and engaging in joint development,’ and properly address problems in order to maintain regional peace and tranquillity,” Xinhua said.
The Chinese news agency did not say whether Quang also addressed the South China Sea.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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