美中分歧，亚太经合组织会后无公报_时事

美中分歧，亚太经合组织会后无公报

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping traded barbs in speeches Saturday. Pence professed respect for Xi and China but also harshly criticized the world's No. 2 economy for intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and unfair trading practices.

The U.S. has this year imposed additional tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, and Beijing has retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. products.

The world, according to Xi's speech, is facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation as protectionism and unilateralism grows. He said the rules of global institutions set up after World War II such as the World Trade Organization should not be bent for selfish agendas.

Pence told reporters that during the weekend he had two “candid” conversations with Xi, who is expected to meet President Donald Trump at a Group of 20 summit at the end of this month in Buenos Aires.

The U.S. is interested in a better relationship “but there has to be change” from China's side, Pence said he told Xi, who responded that dialogue is important.

China's foreign ministry rejected the U.S. criticism that it was leading other developing nations into debt bondage.

“No country either in this region or in other regions has fallen into a so called debt trap because of its cooperation with China. Give me one example,” Wang Xiaolong, a foreign ministry official, told a news conference.