China’s likely next leader, Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平), warned the US against plans to boost its military strength in Asia as he prepared for a closely watched visit to Washington starting yesterday.
Xi, who is tipped to rule the rising Asian power until 2023, called on the US to prioritize economic growth and promised anew that Beijing would address foreign concerns about its currency’s value.
In a written interview with the Washington Post, Xi said that the Pacific Ocean had “ample space” for both China and the US, but insisted that Asian countries were concerned foremost with “economic prosperity.”
“At a time when people long for peace, stability and development, to deliberately give prominence to the military security agenda, scale up military deployment and strengthen military alliances is not really what most countries in the region hope to see,” Xi said.
“We welcome a constructive role by the United States in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. We also hope that the United States will fully respect and accommodate the major interests and legitimate concerns of Asia-Pacific countries,” he said.
US President Barack Obama, while seeking to trim vast military spending in response to budget pressure, has vowed to boost power in Asia where a number of nations have voiced concern at what they charge is a more assertive China.
The US has moved in recent months to send troops to Australia and the Philippines. It has also sought to increase military ties with Vietnam and Singapore, while maintaining longstanding bases in Japan and South Korea.
The Obama administration has nonetheless tried to build personal bonds with Xi in hopes of future cooperation. China starts its power transition later this year, with Xi expected to succeed Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) next year.
Xi was scheduled to arrive yesterday and will enjoy a welcome today at the White House, including a meeting with Obama. He will also stop at the Pentagon for talks billed by US officials as significant in building military trust.
Tomorrow Xi will visit Iowa — where he paid a formative first visit to the US in 1985 as a low-ranking official — and Los Angeles.
White House officials have said that they want a positive relationship with Xi, but they will press key US concerns, some of which may grow in prominence as November elections approach.
US lawmakers accuse China of devastating US industry by keeping its currency artificially low to boost exports and of failing to protect the intellectual property of US companies.
Xi said that Americans have benefited from China’s rapid economic growth.
“We have taken active steps to meet legitimate US concerns over IPR [intellectual property rights] protection and trade imbalance, and we will continue to do so,” he said.
However, he also repeated calls for the US to ease restrictions on exports of sensitive technology to China and to “provide a level playing field” for Chinese businesses in the US market.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS