Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit three Southeast Asian countries next week on his first overseas trip of the year, aiming to strengthen relations with some of China’s closest neighbors amid escalating trade tensions with the US. Xi will visit Vietnam from April 14 to 15 and Malaysia and Cambodia from April 15 to 18, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua on Friday.
China, which was hit with a 145% tariff by President Donald Trump’s administration this year, is now trying to strengthen ties with other countries that are also exposed to Washington’s damaging trade tariffs.
Some of the countries affected by Trump’s retaliatory tariffs – Cambodia with 49%, Vietnam with 46% and Malaysia with 24% – have already attempted to ask for a postponement.
The rare bilateral visits to Southeast Asian countries are a personal diplomatic gesture by Xi. At the beginning of the week, the Chinese president promised to deepen “all-round cooperation” with China’s neighbors.
According to estimates by the news agency Xinhua, relations between China and Malaysia “cannot be interrupted.” Xi also has “iron friends” in Cambodia.
In the days leading up to and following the implementation of Trump’s retaliatory tariffs on April 9 – most of which have since been suspended except for China – Beijing had already begun convincing regional blocs around the world to pursue a united front against the US tariffs.
However, Australia has already rejected China’s call for a united front. Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, had previously stated that a common resistance was the “only way” to stop the “hegemonic and bullying behavior of the US.” In a commentary on Thursday, he called for cooperation with Canberra.
Later, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that Australians would “speak for themselves.” Meanwhile, the Australian defense minister emphasized that the country would “not reach out to China.”
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has since held video conferences with their counterparts in the European Union, Malaysia, as well as Saudi Arabia and South Africa. This week, Premier Li Qiang spoke with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. During the call, they emphasized the responsibility of Europe and China for a “strong, reformed, free and fair trading system based on equal competition conditions.