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.”
The US is now officially runs by a bunch of crazy and deluded mafia. However, the article contains a lot of true statements by Pence, if we turn reality on it’s head:
In other words, we keep shooting our foot until our adversary feels the excruciating pain: US trade deficit with China growth
To do that, they have to kick you out of their countries and also IMF and the other leaches, don’t they?
Yes, we offer you McDonald’s and CocaCola in exchange for your worthless natural resources and slave labour and if you’re too dumb to accept our offer, we give you a “regime change” witout any constrictions or compromise.
I wonder why all those harassments occur thousands of kilometers away from the US borders, in places like South “China” sea, the “Persian” gulf and the Black sea, near or right on other countries’ territorial waters? It truly shows how aggressive and illogical China, Iran and Russia became.
I like your sarcasm lol, very true
>>When you partner with us, we partner with you, and we all prosper.<<
Until we feel that the rules, which used to be in our advantage, no longer are. Then we'll quit any agreements and demand new ones. Or if a new administration gets sworn in, in which case anything can and will happen.
Being in an agreement with the US is like being married to an abusive spouse. It starts out nice, then it gets progressively worse. But occasionally it will turn nice again. Just long enough so you'll convince yourself its your own fault, and nobody understands him or her like you do, and if you keep on being that perfect partner eventually he or she will come around.
I think that if China imposed high tariffs on all goods going to America, and on all American imports it would dramatically raise prices in the USA, and harm the profitability of American corporations operating in China. Other countries would then buy Chinese goods, and resell them to the US. This would cause inflation to skyrocket in the US, which would increase interest rates and collapse the US economy.
As Barba Papa pointed out, the Americans are bullies, and the only way to deal with a bully is with club, you have to beat them senseless, it’s the only language they understand.
Tariffs only shift the excessive cost to consumers as domestic producers raise the price of goods to match the import plus tariff. Chinese manufactures may absorb a short term to loss to keep prices low to retain market share, but eventually prices will have to increase with the end consumer ultimately footing the bill.
In addition China’s manufacturing can’t be sourced to other countries immediately due to either lack of technical capability or contractual obligations. It’s going to get ugly real quick once US corporations who have substantial investments in China start seeing their margins decline.
Shifting the cost to consumers is the whole idea.
It’s a stealth tax, Trump takes the credit for tax cuts, then introduces the tariff stealth tax.
But most Americans are too stupid to see what Trump is doing, and he knows that.
Who says? If the domestic supplier is smart they never match import cost plus tariff. Also with more import replacement happening ,more jobs result in the US. More employed in the US ,thus more money in circulation. So even if cost goes up to consumer in America,the extra income and money circulation benefits the consumer. Net benefit to consumer.
Domestic manufacturers can’t magically increase production to alleviate the excess demand. It takes resources and time to expand manufacturing capacity to offset any reduction in foreign supply, which could be only temporary.
Therefore in order to take advantage of the short term gain domestic manufacturers always raise prices to the cost of the import plus tariff. You would be a fool to do otherwise.
In addition by destroying the trading relationship with China you’re argument is the same as the parable of the broken window, which is a fallacy. If the cost to consumers increases there’s no net benefit to society. It’s painfully obvious you have no idea how economics work.
Thank you for corroborating my point. As you say ,”takes time and resources”. It can happen ,it does happen and will happen again.
I studied Economics at a tertiary level thank you very much and unlike you I know how Economics works in the real world ,not like in prepackaged textbook cases you have been sold on.
Neo- liberal globalist Freemarketeer very much?