Chinese President Xi Jinping's domestic tour signals perseverance amid US-China trade dispute: report
Following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent domestic trip, analysts reportedly mused that his itinerary made a statement amid the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.
Among the stops on Xi’s excursion was Yuda. There he visited a monument that pays homage to the Communist Party’s Long March, the South China Morning Post reported Monday, citing state news agency Xinhua. The military effort in the mid-1930s now reportedly serves as a message of unity and perseverance.
The stop was noteworthy considering the Long March’s historical impact, political researcher Chen Daoyin told the outlet.
“Against the backdrop of the China-U.S. confrontation in trade and technology, the leader’s trip to Yudu sent a clear message of enduring hardship,” Chen said. “We have to be prepared for the possibility that economic confrontation with the U.S. may persist over the long term.”
Xi also paid a visit to a rare earths mining center in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, the South China Morning Post reported. The visit comes amid conjecture in a recent article from Renmin University professor Jin Canrong that the country – a significant exporter of rare earths – could prohibit exporting the goods to the U.S. as a pawn in the trade dispute, the outlet said.
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Vice-Premier Liu He, who has handled trade discussions with the U.S., was also reportedly beside the Chinese leader on the trip.
This move demonstrated Xi’s backing of Liu, portraying the latter as “a comrade in arms or soldier by his side, while they engage in this looming issue with the US,” Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College in London, told the newspaper.