BANGKOK (AP) — China’s Xi is making the case for free trade as he tours Southeast Asia this week, presenting China as a source of “stability and certainty.”
On Monday, he was welcomed to Hanoi with pomp and ceremony by Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong. He paid respects to Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party, visiting his mausoleum on Tuesday ahead of heading to Malaysia for a three-day visit before ending his tour in Cambodia.
In Hanoi, Xi met with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, his counterpart. where he said the two countries “have brought the world valuable stability and certainty” in a “turbulent world.”
“As beneficiaries of economic globalisation, both China and Vietnam should strengthen strategic resolve, jointly oppose unilateral bullying acts, uphold the global free trade system, and keep global industrial and supply chains stable,” he added, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
China and Vietnam signed a series of memorandums on cooperation in supply chains and a joint railway project, and Xi also promised greater access for Vietnamese agricultural exports to China, although few details were made public about the agreements.
US President Donald Trump complained about the meeting, which comes days after his tariffs upended global markets and left governments across the world scrambling. Reacting to the meeting Monday, Trump said China and Vietnam were trying “to figure out how do we screw the United States of America.”
In Malaysia, Xi is expected to discuss a free trade agreement between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as Malaysia is chair of the association this year. Xi will meet with King Sultan Ibrahim Wednesday morning and the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later in the day.
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn told Chinese state media that the agreement will eliminate many tariffs between China and the bloc’s members. “We will bring more tariffs down to zero in many cases, and then expand to all the areas,” he said in an interview with CGTN, the state broadcaster’s English channel.
Anwar called China a “true friend” during Li Qiang’s visit in June and has visited China three times since he took power in November 2022.
