Xi Jinping Visits Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia
Chinese leader pledges to build strong bilateral relations with Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh to build a shared future with stable Beijing. Trump coercion backfires in Asia.
Xi Jinping arrives in Vietnam to boost political, trade ties amid US tariffs
SCMP - 14 Apr 2025
In the midst of a tariff war with the US, China’s president has embarked on a Southeast Asia charm offensive, calling for greater strategic trust and alignment with Vietnam, the first stop on his first overseas trip of the year.
At the start of a three-nation tour that includes Malaysia and Cambodia, Xi Jinping met Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam in Hanoi on Monday and attended the signing of dozens of bilateral agreements, including deals to improve supply chains and railway cooperation.
Observers said Xi’s trip to Southeast Asia – and Vietnam in particular – was aimed at stabilising ties with its neighbours amid disruptions caused by US President Donald Trump.
It highlighted Beijing’s growing focus on periphery diplomacy to counter external threats despite persistent maritime disputes with its neighbours, they said.
Both Xi and Lam were present at the signing ceremony, according to Reuters, but there was no immediate word on the content of the deals. Vietnamese deputy prime minister Bui Thanh Son had said on the weekend that around 40 agreements would be signed.
Xi’s visit comes as Beijing and Washington face off in a bitter tariff war. Since returning to office, Trump has raised duties on Chinese imports up to 145 per cent, heightening fears that the world’s two biggest economies will decouple.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3306428/xi-jinping-arrives-vietnam-boost-political-trade-ties-amid-us-tariffs
Three key points of Xi’s state visits to Southeast Asia, first trips abroad this year
By Li Jianguang (People's Daily)
Neighborly synergy
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia from April 14 to 18. This is the first overseas trip of the year by China's head of state, and also serves as the inaugural visit to neighboring countries following the Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries.
Amid a turbulent global climate, the first overseas visits this year, with a focus on the periphery, are set to capture the world's attention.
A guiding principle: 'Emphasizing the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness'
"A good neighbour is worth thousands of pieces of gold," and "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbours."
Just as this holds true for families, it also applies to nations. Harmonious relations with neighboring countries, alongside friendliness and benevolence toward neighboring states, have long been the traditional Chinese way of coexisting with neighbors.
In recent years, China and its neighboring countries have grown increasingly close, just like relatives. After assuming the position of general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, To Lam chose China for his first overseas visit; Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in just over two years in office, has visited China three times; and following his assumption of office, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet designated China as the destination of his first official visit overseas.
Frequent meetings and increased interactions illustrate the vibrant practice of the "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness" neighbourhood diplomacy.
In October 2013, at the first conference on neighborhood diplomacy since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xi proposed the concept of neighborhood diplomacy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. Over more than a decade, China has borne fruit from these efforts: It has now reached a consensus with 17 neighboring nations on building a community with a shared future and has become the largest trading partner for 18 countries.
The recent Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries stressed the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in neighborhood diplomacy, and advocated for the building of a community with a shared future with neighboring countries. This enduring concept has continuously propelled China's relations with its neighbors forward, allowing them to genuinely experience China's goodwill and sincerity.
Good neighbours wish each other well. As Xi embarked once again on a Southeast Asia tour, how the rich connotation of this important concept will be expanded and enriched is highly anticipated.
A vision: 'China's development will bring even greater benefits to its neighbours'
Neighbours are as inseparable as lips and teeth, and as connected as hands and feet. In the face of the expectations of neighboring countries to share opportunities and achieve common development, Xi has repeatedly stressed that China welcomes its neighboring countries to take a ride on its development express train.
In the autumn of 2013, Xi journeyed westward to Kazakhstan and southward to Indonesia. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was met with an overwhelming response. Originating from China and beginning in neighboring regions, the initiative has gone on to benefit the world.
Over the past decade, China has signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 25 neighboring countries. The China-Laos Railway has solved Laos' "landlocked" dilemma, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway has given the local economy wings to soar, and the China-Malaysia "Two Countries, Two Parks" project has pioneered a new model of industrial cooperation. A large number of projects have brought tangible benefits to the people and improved livelihoods.
"Neighboring countries cannot be moved away. Helping one's neighbor is helping oneself."
Vietnam's Two Corridors and One Economic Circle strategy, Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link project, Cambodia's "Diamond Hexagon" cooperation framework, and other key projects are accelerating alignment with the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. These efforts are now generating a synergistic effect where "1+1>2," creating robust momentum for regional cooperation.
At the bilateral level, China and Vietnam are building a strategically significant China-Vietnam community with a shared future; China and Malaysia are deepening their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership toward China-Malaysia Community with a Shared Future; and the China-Cambodia community with a shared future has entered a new era of high level, high quality, and high standard.
At the regional level, the upgraded protocol for the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) is expected to be signed within the year. Digital empowerment and green development will support the transformative growth of ASEAN countries, fostering the formation of a community with a shared future in the two major clusters of the Indo-China Peninsula and Central Asia.
In the face of headwinds against globalization, all parties are looking forward to how China and its neighbouring countries can continuously establish cooperative models and how the construction of a community with a shared future in the region can be further deepened and solidified.
An action: Jointly contributing to open regionalism
This has been an extraordinary journey.
Thirty-four years ago, China and ASEAN officially initiated their dialogue process. Among ASEAN's dialogue partners, China is the first among major countries to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and to establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN. It is precisely under the impetus of the rapidly advancing China-ASEAN relationship that countries have increasingly intensified their cooperation with ASEAN, gradually fostering a thriving landscape of East Asian cooperation.
In November 2021, at a special summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, Xi profoundly summarized the valuable experiences of bilateral development, one of which is "inclusiveness and mutual learning and jointly contributed to open regionalism."
"We have steered regional economic integration with an open mind, advanced ASEAN-led regional cooperation through equal-footed consultation, and forged friendships that are open, not exclusionary, with an inclusive attitude, thus honouring the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit."
As the world once again stands at a historical crossroads, the choice lies between fostering division and confrontation or advocating for openness and win-win cooperation; between extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit, or resorting to hegemony, bullying, and dominance. These two options represent two different futures, impacting the overall interests of humanity and testing the wisdom of nations.
China and ASEAN together account for about one-quarter of the world's total population and are the second and fifth-largest economies in the world, respectively. "An increasingly cohesive China-ASEAN community of shared future conforms to the trend of the times of seeking peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit and meets the common interests of the people of Asia and the rest of the world. This gives it abroad space and huge potential for growth."
How Trump’s Coercion Could Backfire in Asia
Forcing the Region to Choose Sides Risks Pushing It Toward China
Lynn Kuok (Lee Kuan Yew Chair at the Brookings Institution)
A century after the “wedding of the oceans”—the moment when U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered the final step in the creation of the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and reshaping global trade—the United States is seeking to regain its influence over the waterway.
In his inaugural address in January, President Donald Trump claimed that China was “operating” the canal and vowed that the United States would be “taking it back.” At a press conference, Trump refused to rule out using economic coercion, or even military force, to get his way—news reports later revealed that the White House had directed the Pentagon to draw up plans to seize the waterway by force. These threats seem to have had an effect: Panama has withdrawn from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and accepted the sale of port operations at each end of the canal by the Hong Kong holding company CK Hutchison to a group of investors led by the U.S. firm BlackRock. China’s antitrust regulator has since launched a review, stalling the deal, but whatever the ultimate fate of the canal, the episode sent a signal that Washington is willing to present countries with a stark ultimatum: side with the United States or face the consequences.
Washington is deploying coercive, us-or-them approaches elsewhere, too. Trump has demanded concessions in response to sweeping tariffs, pushed India to abandon an effort to reduce U.S. dollar dominance, and conditioned U.S. support for Ukraine on the country’s willingness to accept a peace deal with Russia, telling President Volodymyr Zelensky to “make a deal or we’re out.” Most explicitly, in February, Trump established a “fast track” investment process for “specified allies and partners”—but only on the condition that they refrain from “partnering” with “foreign adversaries in corresponding areas.”
If the United States sticks to such hard-line tactics, countries around the world will face difficult choices. Nowhere will these choices be harder than in Asia, where governments have long hedged their bets between Chinaand the United States. The United States has for decades contributed to the region’s peace and prosperity and is valued for it, even as those contributions have also benefited the United States. Even today, the region does not want to have to choose between the United States and China. Without a strong U.S. presence, the region’s strategic options will narrow and governments will lose much of their ability to press China for better behavior. If they are forced to choose, countries will have to weigh U.S. leverage, the reliability of Washington’s promises, their economic ties with China, and potential alternatives. Coercion could backfire. Although it will not always be China that benefits—many Asian countries hedge beyond the great powers—China’s geographic proximity, extensive economic ties with the region, and skill in turning economic engagement into strategic advantage position it to gain the most. The United States can force countries to choose—but it might not like their answers.
Read full article here.
