China and Vietnam need to work together to “fight unilateral bullying”, President Xi Jinping said in Hanoi on the first stop of his Southeast Asia tour, which aims to stabilise neighbourhood ties amid the disruptions caused by the Donald Trump administration.
During his meeting on Monday with President To Lam – who is also the Vietnamese Communist Party’s general secretary – Xi said both countries had benefited from economic globalisation, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
The two neighbours should now join hands to safeguard global free trade and maintain the stability of supply chains, Xi added. “Isolated small boats cannot withstand stormy waves. Only by working together on the same boat can we sail steady and far.”
Also on Monday, Xi met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, telling him that China and Vietnam should strengthen strategic cooperation and communication and “jointly oppose hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism”.
“[The two sides] should firmly uphold the multilateral trading system and jointly promote the development of economic globalisation in a more open, inclusive, equitable and balanced direction,” Xi said.
The Chinese leader’s state visit to Hanoi coincided with Trump’s 90-day pause on heavy tariffs for countries like Vietnam, while the bitter trade war between Beijing and Washington shows no sign of easing.
