Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday urged Vietnam to join forces in upholding free trade before wrapping up a visit to Hanoi which US President Donald Trump said was aiming to “screw” the US.
Xi visited Vietnam as part of a Southeast Asia tour that is to include Malaysia and Cambodia, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Trump as leaders confront US tariffs.
The Chinese leader on Monday called on his nation and Vietnam to “oppose unilateral bullying and uphold the stability of the global free trade system,” Chinese state media reported.
Photo: AFP
Hours later, Trump told reporters at the White House that the talks were aimed at hurting the US.
“I don’t blame China. I don’t blame Vietnam. I don’t. I see they’re meeting today, and that’s wonderful,” he said. “That’s a lovely meeting ... like trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America.”
China and Vietnam on Monday signed 45 cooperation agreements, including on supply chains, artificial intelligence, joint maritime patrols and railway development.
Xi at a meeting with Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam on Monday said that their nations were “standing at the turning point of history ... and should move forward with joined hands.”
Lam said after the talks that the two leaders “reached many important and comprehensive common perceptions,” Vietnam News Agency reported.
Before leaving for Malaysia, Xi laid a red wreath emblazoned with his name and the words “Long live Vietnam’s great leader President Ho Chi Minh” at the late leader’s mausoleum in central Hanoi.
He also attended the launch of the Vietnam-China Railway Cooperation project, which is to manage an US$8 billion rail project — announced this year — to link Vietnam’s largest northern port city to the border with China.
The rail link is a “matter of great concern” to the leaders of the two nations, Vietnam News Agency said.
The new rail line would run through some of Vietnam’s key manufacturing hubs, home global giants who rely on a regular flow of components from China.
Xi’s trip came almost two weeks after the US — the biggest export market for Vietnam in the first three months of the year — imposed a 46 percent tariff on Vietnamese goods as part of a global blitz.
Although the US tariffs on the manufacturing powerhouse and most other nations have been paused, China still faces enormous levies and is seeking to tighten regional trade ties and offset their impact during Xi’s first overseas trip of the year.
The Chinese president was traveling to Malaysia before visiting Cambodia on a tour that “bears major importance” for the broader region, Beijing said.
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