International media analyzes speeches of US and Chinese leaders in Da Nang

International media simultaneously reported on two important speeches by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leaders of the world's two leading economies arrived in Da Nang to attend the APEC summit on November 10.

President Xi Jinping welcomes President Donald Trump in Beijing on November 9. Photo: Reuters

In an article referring to the speeches of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping at the APEC CEO Summit in Da Nang yesterday afternoon, November 10, the BBC published an article titled “APEC Summit: President Trump and President Xi offer different visions on trade”.

According to the BBC, the US President and the Chinese President have presented two completely different visions for the future of global trade. While President Trump declared that the US does not accept the issue of "trade exploitation", President Xi said that globalization is an irreversible trend.

Mr Trump said the US would pursue bilateral deals with “any partner in the Indo-Pacific” but based on mutual respect and reciprocity. Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping has supported multilateral trade deals that he said would benefit weaker economies.

The BBC also quoted economic correspondent Karishma Vaswani as saying that President Trump sent a clear message through his speech in Da Nang: he wants to build bilateral trade agreements, while open multilateral agreements do not work for the US. For his part, President Xi Jinping presented a vision of the future in which economies are interconnected and inclusive.

According to Vaswani, the US was the “architect” of many free trade and multilateral agreements in Asia, and since then many countries have opened up and reformed their economies in the direction of the US. However, under President Trump, this role of the US has changed.

President Trump speaks at the CEO Summit in Da Nang on November 10. Photo: AFP

In an article titled “President Trump criticizes countries that take advantage of the US at the APEC conference,” the Guardian cited a series of key points in the US leader’s speech, especially about the “unequal” trade relations between the US and other countries. The Guardian also commented that President Trump’s speech was “significantly” different from President Xi Jinping’s speech at the CEO Summit.

The Guardian quoted American commentator Einar Tangen, a well-known pro-China analyst, as saying that the two leaders’ speeches at the APEC summit this time represented a “historic moment”. According to Tangen, President Xi’s vision contrasted with President Trump’s hardline stance.

Regarding President Trump’s speech, Australia’s SBS news site also published an analysis article titled “President Trump in Vietnam: America will no longer accept unfair trade.” The article repeated the quote from the US leader in his speech, saying that he would “put America’s interests first” and that he expected everyone in the audience to also put their country first.

According to USA Today, in his speech at the CEO Summit, President Trump did not specifically name the countries, but it seemed that the US leader wanted to praise APEC member economies, from Vietnam to the Philippines, for their positive contributions to the global economy. USA Today quoted Matthew P. Goodman, senior advisor on Asian economies for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the US, as saying that "there is still much skepticism about the level of certainty and the exact approach that President Trump wants to take towards bilateral economic relations."

According to the New York Times, although standing on the same stage and speaking at the same conference, President Trump and President Xi sent “significantly opposite” messages regarding global trade issues. Meanwhile, an article on CNBC also pointed out the difference in the stance of the two US and Chinese leaders when they spoke at the CEO Summit in Da Nang yesterday.

According to Dan Tri