China's Xi seeks new diplomatic inroads with Asian leaders
Chinese President Xi Jinping has used his first face-to-face meetings with America’s Asia-Pacific allies since 2020 to forge diplomatic inroads as Washington pushes back against Beijing's influence in the region
BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has used his first face-to-face meetings with America’s Asia-Pacific allies since 2020 to try to forge diplomatic inroads as Washington pushes back against Beijing’s influence in the region.
Xi has not backed away from China’s longstanding claims to Taiwan and most of the South China Sea. But his comments to various leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok this week have focused more on Beijing’s pivotal economic role for its neighbors.
As China’s stature has risen, its diplomacy has grown more nuanced than the high-handed approach that has sometimes sparked resentment in the past.
“Xi Jinping’s diplomatic engagements and the supporting chorus of propaganda messages have sought to put forward a softer, smiling facade in what appears to be an effort to reduce friction and tensions, particularly with the U.S. and European countries that have become increasingly critical, frustrated and committed to competing with China,” said Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
