State and local officials in the United States can strengthen economic ties that offset the worsening rivalry between Washington and Beijing, according to Chinese autocrat Xi Jinping.
“We must actively cooperate with all countries, regions, and enterprises who are willing to cooperate with us, including states, localities, and enterprises in the United States,” Xi said, following an annual policy retreat.
Those comments were released on the heels of President Trump’s statement Sunday that he might “decouple” the American economy from China if he is reelected and trade negotiations with Beijing proceed unsatisfactorily. The trade war represents one front in broadening competition with the rising communist power, but Chinese officials have touted economic ties with Western countries to offset American warnings that such relationships bring national security vulnerabilities.
“Some American politicians claim falsely that the U.S. has been ripped off by China, and that China’s development is a gift from the U.S.,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in response to Trump’s remarks. “Trying to solve domestic problems through decoupling is like looking for fish in trees or drinking poison to quench thirst. The country doing so will eventually harm the interests of its own businesses and people.”
The comments from Trump and Xi came at the outset of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to Europe this week, where he is on an apparent mission to blunt Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent efforts to “build out a coalition” of democratic nations to counter Chinese aggression.
“We are resolutely opposed to any promotion of a new Cold War,” the foreign minister said in Rome, in an implicit accusation against the U.S. “This is for one’s self-interest. This is to hold all countries in the world hostage.”
Italy is one of the few major Western capitals to sign up for China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, an overseas investment program that U.S. officials regard as a “predatory” lending scheme that Beijing uses to purchase geopolitical influence. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio affirmed the country’s interest in the Belt and Road Initiative but also rebuked Beijing’s recent encroachment on Hong Kong, in a demonstration of how the mainland Chinese government’s attempt to consolidate control of the former British colony has created a backlash in Europe.
“I stressed that Italy and other EU member states together support Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity on the basis of ‘one country, two systems,’” Di Maio said.
Xi, in his separate remarks, acknowledged that Beijing might pay an economic price overseas. “In the coming period, we will face more and more headwinds in the external environment, and we must be prepared to deal with a series of new risks and challenges,” he said. “The dominance of the domestic market will become more apparent in the foreseeable future. We will insist on the strategic direction of supply-side structural reform, adapting production, distribution, circulation, and consumption mainly to domestic needs.”
