China’s message to world leaders as anxiety grows over Trump win

Lima: Chinese President Xi Jinping has moved to gain more economic allies across the Asia-Pacific after arriving at a regional summit with a pledge to build a “multipolar” world, seizing on growing anxiety about the rise of Donald Trump to the United States presidency.

The message highlights China’s growing power at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit when the country is investing billions of dollars across the region, challenging the US for primacy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged the wave of Chinese investment and welcomed the trend, saying it was an opportunity for Australia because of the economic growth in China and other big countries such as India and Indonesia.

But tensions over China were apparent in the prime minister’s meeting with newly elected Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who spoke of the need to “lower the temperature” with Beijing.

Xi arrived in Peru for the APEC summit with a declaration that he would champion “true multilateralism” and promote an “orderly multipolar world” that was inclusive, announcing his presence by opening a $5.6 billion port north of the capital.

“The world is undergoing faster transformation unseen in a century. Humanity has again come to a crossroads in history,” he said in a statement issued in his name in the Peruvian media.

While Xi did not name Trump, his statement comes as APEC leaders prepare for the incoming US president to act on his vow to impose 60 per cent tariffs on China and 20 per cent tariffs on other countries.

The Chinese leader is seeking up to 30 bilateral agreements at the regional summit in Peru, while also preparing for a meeting with United States President Joe Biden on Saturday that is likely to discuss the transition to the Trump administration.

Albanese will use an opening session of the APEC summit to warn about the danger of new trade barriers without naming Trump. He will instead emphasise that breaking down tariff walls has lifted millions of people out of poverty and quadrupled per capita incomes.

“Open, inclusive, rules-based trade remains the best course and surest way to grow our economies and lift the living standards of our citizens,” he says in prepared remarks sent to this masthead.

The prime minister linked the economic objectives to the broader dangers in the world, including the wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

“In every region of the world, peace, security and stability are not the dividends of prosperity, they are the foundation for it,” the draft speech reads.

“This is one of the reasons Australia stands with the international community in calling for a de-escalation of violence in the Middle East.

“And in condemning Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine, including the new military support they are receiving from North Korea.”

Albanese also declared on Thursday, local time, that Chinese growth was an opportunity for Australia – a stance at odds with American warnings about the threat from a strategic competitor.

“The rise of China as an economic power is a fact. It’s not theoretical. It’s something that is a fact. And it will also be increasingly driven by economic factors and by population, as well,” Albanese said. He added that populous countries such as India and Indonesia were also changing the global economy.

“And that’s why Australia is well positioned as a country that is located in the fastest-growing region of the world in human history. That represents opportunity,” he said.

But a brief comment by Prabowo towards the end of his opening remarks to Albanese in their formal meeting in Peru on Thursday morning, local time, revealed a key concern about China.

Prabowo said he was trying to improve relations with all of Indonesia’s neighbours, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

“And some sort of management with the Chinese to de-escalate and lower the temperature,” he added, before the media was asked to leave the room.

Prabowo raised concerns in Australia and other neighbours in recent days with a statement that acknowledged “overlapping claims” in the South China Sea, which seemed to shift Indonesia’s long-standing position against China’s maritime claims in the area. But the Indonesian president clarified on Wednesday that he was not changing policy on the disputed waters.

“We respect all powers, but we will always safeguard our sovereignty. But I choose to always find possibilities of a partnership,” Prabowo said in Washington, DC, after meeting Biden at the White House.

Prabowo also met US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington and the two discussed the South China Sea, according to a readout from the US Defence Department.

Albanese acknowledged the concerns about the South China Sea when asked about his meeting with Prabowo.

“He is looking like other nations in that part of the world, around the South China Sea, to ensure that there is peace and stability and security there, and that there is engagement and dialogue to make sure that there aren’t any incidents that can escalate quickly,” he said.

The messages from all sides appeared to indicate that Australia and Indonesia were taking similar positions on the South China Sea once again.

One of America’s most powerful finance leaders, JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, sent a warning signal about the challenges facing Trump when he assumed office on January 20.

“The most important thing is, whoever had been elected, and this is my belief, they are entering and could be responsible for the most complicated geopolitical, military and geo-economic situation that the world has faced since World War II,” Dimon said at the APEC CEO Summit.

“And of course, I wish them all the best. It could be a difficult thing with a lot of unknowns and uncertainties, and so policy is going to matter. And you know, of course, who runs the government will be determinative there.”

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