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Vice President Pence examines Chinese President Xi Jinping as he prepares for a photo at the APEC summit Saturday in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (David Gray / Reuters)
HONG KONG – Vice President Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday delivered dueling speeches offering a window on how the two governments are calling for a truce on tariffs, while remaining fundamentally at odds over areas of the economy. economy, diplomacy and the race to global influence and primacy.
Pence, speaking shortly after Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Papua New Guinea, has launched a sharp and varied critique of China, not only for its business practices, but also for its infrastructure projects. transcontinental and its military activity in the country. South China Sea.
Reiterating the US's commitment to Asia, Pence retains his strongest words for Xi's flagship foreign policy initiative – the infrastructure investment plan, the Initiative Belt and Road – in warning countries to accept Chinese loans for projects of ports and transport dispersed from Pakistan to Indonesia.
"We are not drowning our partners in an ocean of debt. We do not constrain or compromise your independence, "said Pence. "We do not offer a compression belt or a one-way street."
The United States "offers a better option," he said, unveiling a new regional transparency initiative and $ 60 billion US investment for the region.
The Trump administration has expressed a much tougher stance against China, with its growing footprint and assertive assertion, sparking talks on a new Cold War on both sides of the Pacific. But the American president The absence was visible this week at two major Asian summits where Xi, on the contrary, dominated the limelight.
The Chinese president on Saturday made a more conciliatory speech warning that "the confrontation, whether it be in the form of a hot war, a cold war or a trade war, will not produce any winner. "
He dismissed criticism of his Belt and Road initiative as a debt "trap" and instead positioned himself as a leader in the developing world to help lift poor countries into its orbit.
"Many entrepreneurs here are witnesses, contributors and beneficiaries of China's reform and openness, and have forged an indissoluble bond with China," said Xi Xi, who appeared to criticize critical way the human rights violations in Asia advocate alternative development models.
"We should be less arrogant and prejudiced," he said. "What kind of road a country takes, only the people of this country can decide."
In the absence of Trump, Pence and his national security advisor, John Bolton, spoke forcefully about the US agenda in Asia. Pence has sharply criticized Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in her country.
Pence, on Saturday, acknowledged that the fallout from US-Chinese competition is "felt" by many Asian countries, and reiterated that the United States wanted a better relationship with Beijing.
The two governments hope that the two leaders will meet in Argentina in a few weeks to negotiate an agreement that could at least freeze the rate hike.
"China knows where we are," said Pence. "As the President prepares to meet with President Xi at the G-20 Summit in Argentina, we believe that progress could be made."
But Pence took a hard line against Chinese expansionism in Asia by announcing a redevelopment plan for a naval base in Papua New Guinea with Australia.
He promised that the US Navy would continue to navigate the waters claimed by China as part of operations relating to freedom of navigation. A series of operations this year led to a near-collision in September when a Chinese destroyer cut an American warship near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, where the Chinese army deployed missile systems.
Pence himself flew over the Spratlys in Air Force Two earlier this week in what he told the Washington Post, which equates to a "mission of freedom of navigation per se".
"We will continue to fly and navigate where international law permits and our national interests demand it," Pence said in his Saturday speech. "Harassment will only strengthen our resolve."
Read more:
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Pence: It's up to China to avoid a cold war
After collapsing in Europe, can the White House succeed in Asia?
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