Xi reaches out to China’s neighbors to combat US risks
Beijing has a ‘new vision for neighborhood diplomacy in a fragmenting world’ full of ‘uncertainty’
China is cozying up to its neighbors amid a brutal trade war with the United States. President Donald Trump’s eye-watering tariffs have forced Beijing to woo rival regional nations.
As the aftershocks continue to rock the global economy, China’s leader Xi Jinping has been busily repairing bridges with Japan, South Korea and ASEAN nations, such as Malaysia.
“China [has a] new vision for neighborhood diplomacy. In an uncertain and fragmenting world, China looks to its neighbors for certainty,” Yang Liu, a senior journalist at the ruling Communist Party-run Xinhua News Agency, said today in his Beijing Channel newsletter.
Global Times also highlighted ‘friend-shoring,’ reporting on Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao’s discussions with Malaysian Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. Kuala Lumpur holds the rotating chair of ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“These [tariff] measures severely undermine the rights and interests of all parties, including China and ASEAN countries, representing a typical act of unilateral bullying,” Wang said.
Will Xi Jinping take a breath … and try to arrange a call [with Trump]?
Bill Bishop, founder of Sinocism
Call of duties:
- Trump announced a shock pause in tariffs amid panic in worldwide stock markets.
- But he increased the pressure on China, raising duties on Chinese imports to 125%.
- Xi retaliated with 84% tariffs on US goods entering the world’s second-largest economy.
Delve deeper: Last weekend, Japan, South Korea and China agreed to “continue trilateral cooperation to address challenges” posed by Washington’s trade threat.
Between the lines: “We will speed up negotiations for a [free trade agreement],” they said in a joint statement issued after the meeting, according to The Japan Times.
Big picture: What happens next is the trillion-dollar question after Trump put the brake on his tariffs-induced anarchy for 90 days. All except China, Washington’s public enemy No 1.
Bottom line: “Will Xi Jinping take a breath, wait a few days and try to arrange a call to figure out if there is a way to walk things back? Or will he decide he needs to respond one more time,” Bill Bishop, the founder of Sinocism, pondered in his newsletter.
Suspicious minds: “Whatever he decides to do, Trump’s singling out of China will likely reinforce the view in Beijing that there is a coherent strategic plan to contain and suppress China, even if one does not appear to exist,” he said.
China Factor comment: The chaos is far from over. This is just a prelude to the real-life economic horror remake of Trading Places. Xi and Trump are in the starring roles.