China's President Xi Jinping has called on Vietnam to oppose "unilateral bullying" to upkeep a global system of free trade - though he stopped short of naming the US.It comes as Xi is on a so called "charm offensive" trip across South East Asia, which will also see him visit Malaysia and Cambodia.Though the trip was long-planned, it has taken on heightened significance in the wake of a mounting trade war between the US and China. Vietnam was facing US tariffs of up to 46% before the Trump administration issued a 90-day pause last week.
US President Donald Trump called Xi's meeting with Vietnamese leaders a ploy to figure out how to "screw the United States of America".According to state media outlet Xinhua, Xi told Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary-General To Lam to "jointly oppose unilateral bullying.The world's two largest economies are locked in an escalating trade battle, with the Trump administration putting tariffs of 145% on most Chinese imports earlier this month. Beijing later responded with its own 125% tariffs on American products coming into China.
On Saturday, a US customs notice revealed smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices would be excluded from the 125% tariff on goods entering the country from China.But Trump later chimed in on social media saying there was no exemption for these products and called such reports about this notice false. Instead, he said that "they are just moving to a different tariff 'bucket'".Xi arrived in Hanoi on Monday, where he was was welcomed by well wishes waving Chinese and Vietnamese flags.He then met top Vietnamese officials including the country's Secretary-General and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Earlier on Tuesday, Xi visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to take part in a wreath laying ceremony at the resting place of the former Vietnamese founder and Communist leader.Despite Xi's visit, Vietnam will be careful to "manage the perception that it is colluding with China against the United States, as the US is too important a partner to put aside," said Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute think-tank.In many ways, China is an economic competitor as well as an economic partner for South East Asian economies.Xi has now left Vietnam and will arrive in Malaysia later on Tuesday. He is expected to meet the country's King, as well as its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
It comes as Malaysian mobile data service company U Mobile said it will roll out the country's second network by using infrastructure technology from China's Huawei.Ms Patton expects Xi to continue portraying the US as "a partner which is unreliable protectionist".Meanwhile, he is likely to portray China in stark contrast as a partner that is there.Now is really a golden opportunity for China to score that narrative win. I think this is how Xi's visit to Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia will be seen.
Madina Mammadova\\EDnews
