Honoured guest: (Top) Members of the guard of honour taking their position as the plane carrying Xi arrives at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport. — AFP
China’s leader Xi Jinping said no one wins in a trade war as he kicked off a diplomatic tour of South-East Asia, reiterating China’s commitment to global trade in contrast with US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs moves.
Although Trump has paused some tariffs, he has kept in place 145% duties on China, the world’s second-largest economy.
“There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,” Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media.
“Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”
Xi’s visit lets China show South-East Asia it is a “responsible superpower in the way that contrasts with the way the United States under President Donald Trump presents to the whole world,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Xi was greeted on the tarmac by Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong at the start of his two-day visit, a mark of honour not often given to visitors, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a professor of Vietnamese studies at Fulbright University Vietnam.
Students of a drum art group performed as women waved the red and yellow Chinese and Communist Party flags.
While Xi’s trip likely was planned earlier, it has become significant because of the tariff fight between China and the United States.
The visit offers a path for Beijing to shore up its alliances and find solutions for the high trade barrier the United States has imposed on Chinese exports.
In Vietnam, Xi will meet with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, his counterpart, as well as the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
“The trip to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia is all about how China can really insulate itself against Trump,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, pointing out that since Xi became the president in 2013, he has only visited Vietnam twice.
The timing of the visit sends a “strong political message that South-East Asia is important to China,” said Huong Le-Thu of the International Crisis Group think tank.
She said that given the severity of Trump’s tariffs and despite the 90-day pause, South-East Asian nations were anxious that the tariffs, if implemented, could complicate their development.
Vietnam is experienced at balancing its relations with the United States and China.
In 2023, it was the only country that received both Xi and US President Joe Biden.
That year, it also upgraded the United States to its highest diplomatic level, the same as China and Russia.
China is its biggest trading partner, and China-Vietnam trade surged 14.6% year-on-year in 2024, according to Chinese state media.
Vietnam had been hit with 46% tariffs under Trump’s order before the 90-day pause.
After Vietnam, Xi is slated to visit Malaysia next and then Cambodia. — AP
