It comes as Xi is on a so-called "charm offensive"
trip across South East Asia, which will also see him visit Malaysia and
Cambodia.
Though, the trip was long-planned, it has taken on
heightened significance in the wake of a mounting trade war between the US and
China. Vietnam was facing US tariffs of up to 46% before the Trump
administration issued a 90-day pause last week.
US President Donald Trump called Xi's meeting with
Vietnamese leaders a ploy to figure out how to "screw the United States of
America".
According to state media outlet Xinhua, Xi told Vietnam's
Communist Party Secretary-General To Lam to "jointly oppose unilateral
bullying".
"We must strengthen strategic resolve... and uphold the
stability of the global free trade system as well as industrial and supply
chains," he said.
Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator, said Xi's
comments were "a very shrewd tactical move".
"While Trump seems determined to blow up the trade
system, Xi is positioning China as the defender of rules-based trade, while
painting the US as a reckless rogue nation," he added.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval office on Monday, Trump
said he does not "blame" China or Vietnam but alleged that they were focused
on how to harm the US.
"That's a lovely meeting. Meeting like, trying to
figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?" said Trump.
The world's two largest economies are locked in an
escalating trade battle, with the Trump administration putting tariffs of 145%
on most Chinese imports earlier this month. Beijing later responded with its
own 125% tariffs on American products coming into China.
On Saturday, a US customs notice revealed smartphones,
computers and some other electronic devices would be excluded from the 125%
tariff on goods entering the country from China. But Trump later chimed in on
social media saying there was no exemption for these products and called such
reports about this notice false. Instead, he said that "they are just
moving to a different tariff 'bucket'".
Xi arrived in Hanoi on Monday, where he was welcomed by well
wishes waving Chinese and Vietnamese flags. He then met top Vietnamese
officials including the country's Secretary-General and Prime Minister Pham
Minh Chinh.
Earlier on Tuesday, Xi visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to
take part in a wreath laying ceremony at the resting place of the former
Vietnamese founder and Communist leader.
Despite Xi's visit, Vietnam will be careful to "manage
the perception that it is colluding with China against the United States, as
the US is too important a partner to put aside," said Susannah Patton,
Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute think-tank.
"In many ways, China is an economic competitor as well
as an economic partner for South East Asian economies," she added.
Xi arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday. He is expected to meet
the country's King, as well as its Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
It comes as Malaysian mobile data service company, U Mobile
said it will roll out the country's second 5G network by using infrastructure
technology from China's Huawei and ZTE.
Ms Patton expects Xi to continue portraying the US as "a
partner which is unreliable and protectionist".
Meanwhile, he is likely to "portray China in stark
contrast as a partner that is there", she added.
"Now is really a golden opportunity for China to score
that narrative win. I think this is how Xi's visit to Vietnam, Cambodia and
Malaysia will be seen."
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