China’s Xi courts Southeast Asia as Trump tariffs bite

– ‘Bamboo diplomacy’ –

Xi will be in Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday, his first trip there since December 2023.

Vietnam has long pursued a “bamboo diplomacy” approach, striving to stay on good terms with both China and the United States.

It shares US concerns about Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea but it also has close economic ties with China.

Xi will then visit Malaysia from Tuesday to Thursday.

Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said Xi’s visit was “part of the government’s efforts… to see better trade relations with various countries including China”.

Xi will then travel on Thursday to Cambodia, one of China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia and where Beijing has extended its influence in recent years.

“The Cambodian-Chinese ties have not changed… and we will continue to make it robust,” Prime Minister Hun Manet said at the recent inauguration of a Chinese-funded road.

He said Xi’s visit would confirm their close relationship and called China “a key partner” in the development of Cambodian infrastructure.

Firming up ties with Southeast Asian neighbours could also help offset the impact from a closed United States, the largest single recipient of Chinese goods last year.

Beijing “wants to use this time to show it’s the opposite to the coercive and self-interested US,” the ICG’s Le Thu said.

“China has been a dominant and resident power centre in the region, and there will only be stronger pull,” she said.

burs-mya/pbt

© Agence France-Presse