Photo Credit: Getty Images
During a visit to Vietnam, China's President Xi Jinping urged the country to resist "unilateral bullying" and uphold free trade, in an apparent criticism of the United States. The call comes as Xi embarks on a "charm offensive" across Southeast Asia, with planned stops in Malaysia and Cambodia. Vietnam had been facing US tariffs of up to 46% before the Trump administration issued a 90-day pause last week.
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.
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".
"While Trump seems determined to blow up the trade system, Xi is positioning China as the defender of rules-based trade, while painting the US as a reckless rogue nation," he added.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval office on Monday, Trump said he does not "blame" China or Vietnam but alleged that they were focused on how to harm the US.
"That's a lovely meeting. Meeting like, trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?" said Trump.
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.
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," she added.
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.
