China hails coming of ‘multipolar world’

Wang speaks with Rubio ahead of Trump-Xi moot

BEIJING:

China’s foreign minister warned on Monday that a “multipolar world is coming”, a veiled jab at Washington ahead of key talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Speaking at a forum in Beijing on Monday, Wang Yi urged “an end to politicising economic and trade issues, artificially fragmenting global markets, and resorting to trade wars and tariff battles”.

“Frequently withdrawing from agreements and reneging on commitments, while enthusiastically forming blocs and cliques, has subjected multilateralism to unprecedented challenges,” Wang said, without naming specific countries.

“The tide of history cannot be reversed and a multipolar world is coming,” Wang said.

Rubio call

China hopes the United States can meet it halfway to “prepare for high-level interactions” between the two countries, foreign minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call on Monday, China’s foreign ministry said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have “long-standing exchanges and respect each other”, Wang said, calling Xi and Trump’s relationship “the most valuable strategic asset in China-US relations”, according to the ministry.

The call came ahead of an expected meeting between Xi and Trump in South Korea on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.

The Chinese readout of Monday’s call stopped short of directly confirming the two would meet, but the White House has previously said they will.

The US State Department said in a short statement that Rubio and Wang discussed the “importance of the US-China relationship and the upcoming meeting” between the countries’ leaders, without providing details.

Negotiators from the two countries met in Malaysia at the weekend to hash out a framework trade deal for the presidents to consider, on issues including soybeans and TikTok.

There has been a new flare-up of trade friction between the world’s two largest economies in recent weeks after a period of relative calm, with Beijing expanding its rare earths control and Washington pressing through with additional port fees on Chinese ships, sparking a wave of mutual countermeasures.

“China-US trade and economic relations (have) experienced some twists and turns,” Wang said, according to the Chinese ministry’s statement. “The two sides clarified their positions and enhanced understanding” during the trade talks in Kuala Lumpur, he said.

Bilateral relations can move forward as long as both sides are “committed to resolving conflicts through dialogue and abandon the practice of exerting pressure at will”, Wang said.

Trump, en route to Japan on Monday, said the US and China are set to “come away with” a trade deal. Late on Sunday, Chinese state media flagged the contentious issue of Taiwan, the most serious potential security flashpoint between Washington and Beijing, saying that a group of Chinese H-6K bombers recently flew near Taiwan to practice “confrontation drills”.

Rubio said on Sunday that Taiwan should not be concerned about the US-China talks, despite some experts expressing concerns that Trump might offer concessions over the island, which Beijing claims as its own and which under US law Washington is required to provide with the means to defend itself.