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Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrive for a family photo with leaders and their spouses during the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Saturday. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo
A de-escalation in the US-initiated trade war with China is unlikely, following speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Vice President Mike Pence during the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Papua New Guinea.
Both countries showed that they are unwilling to compromise in the conflict.
Xi received applause after he told the summit that imposing tariffs and breaking up supply chains was “short-sighted” and “doomed to failure.” Despite speaking first, he anticipated many of Pence’s criticisms.
He said countries are facing a choice of cooperation or confrontation as protectionism and unilateralism spreads. Xi also expressed support for the global free trade system that has been at the heart of his country’s rise over the past 25 years to the second-biggest economy.
“The rules made should not be followed or bent as one sees fit and they should not be applied with double standards for selfish agendas,” Xi said. ”Mankind has once again reached a crossroads,” he said. “Which direction should we choose? Cooperation or confrontation? Openness or closing doors. Win-win progress or a zero sum game?”
He also claimed that China’s international infrastructure drive is not a power grab or a trap.
“It is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda, it is not targeted against anyone and it does not exclude anyone,” Xi said. “It is not an exclusive club that is closed to non-members, nor is it a trap as some people have labeled it.”
Mike Pence spoke after Xi Jinping. He pushed an aggressive anti-China agenda in the weeks leading up to the summit. He claimed that US will not back down from its trade dispute with China, even threatening to double its tariffs, unless Beijing fulfills the US demands: “we have taken decisive action to address our imbalance with China,” adding that “we put tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods, and we could more than double that number.”
“The United States, though, will not change course until China changes its ways,” Pence said, accusing Beijing of intellectual property theft, unprecedented subsidies for state businesses and “tremendous” barriers to foreign companies entering its giant market.
The United States deals openly and fairly – and we don’t offer a constricting belt or a one-way road. When you partner with us, we partner with you, and we all prosper. #APEC2018 pic.twitter.com/pjL9XM9Sz2
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) November 17, 2018
Pence also announced plans for the US to be involved in Australia’s construction of a new naval base in Papua New Guinea.
China has also increasingly offered Papua New Guinea and other Pacific island nations with aid and loans for infrastructure.
“Our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific will prevail,” Pence said.
The Vice President also criticized China’s Belt and Road Initiative, calling many of the projects low quality that also saddle developing countries with loans they can’t afford.
Do not accept foreign debt that could compromise your sovereignty. Protect your interests. Preserve your independence. And just like America, always put your country first. #APEC2018 pic.twitter.com/HUQjU7OQgY
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) November 17, 2018
He also claimed that the US, a democracy is a better partner than authoritarian China.
“Know that the United States offers a better option. We don’t drown our partners in a sea of debt, we don’t coerce, compromise your independence,” Pence said. “We do not offer constricting belt or a one-way road. When you partner with us, we partner with you and we all prosper.”
Furthermore, Pence also commented on China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
“We will continue to fly and sail wherever international law allows and our national interest demands,” he said. “Harassment will only strengthen our resolve. We will not change course.”
He also claimed that Washington would continue supporting efforts by Southeast Asian nations to negotiate a legally binding “code of conduct” with China “that respects the rights of all nations, including the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.”
China demands the US to stop deploying warships and military aircraft close to its artificial islands.
There appears to be no end to the tensions between the US and China that are also subsequently pushing Beijing to closer relations with Russia among other regional countries.
Reuters also warned that Pence’s warnings will “be unwelcome news to financial markets which had hoped for a thaw in the Sino-U.S. dispute and perhaps even some sort of deal at a G20 meeting later this month in Argentina.”
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