Xi Jinping goes on charm offensive as Asia reels from tariff whiplash

Amid tariff chaos, Xi Jinping is seeking to capitalize on the Trump administration’s truculence and cast China as the world’s preferred trading partner.

HONG KONG — Chinese President Xi Jinping is turning on the charm as he looks to sweep up the shards of America’s shattered economic relationships.

As the world's markets and leaders try to absorb the impact of the market chaos unleashed by the Trump administration’s announcement and softening of sweeping tariffs on almost all U.S. trading partners, Xi embarked on a trip through Southeast Asia. After a visit to Vietnam, he landed in Malaysia on Tuesday.

“A trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere,” he wrote in the Vietnamese newspaper Nhan Dan. “Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and an open and cooperative international environment.”

President Donald Trump has interpreted Xi’s words, as well as his Chinese counterpart’s meetings with the leaders of the major economies in China’s backyard, as Beijing getting together for a “lovely meeting” with one of the countries worst hit by tariffs “to figure out, ‘how do we screw the United States of America?’”

Chinese President Xi Jinping boards his plane following his visit to Vietnam on Tuesday.Athit Perawongmetha / Pool via AFP - Getty ImagesThe message Xi is sending on his tour is loud and clear. China is seeking to capitalize on the Trump administration’s truculence to cast itself as the world’s preferred trading partner.