Xi says China to consider holding BRI Forum in‘23

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China would consider hosting the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation next year, which would be the first staging of the event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) is Xi’s signature infrastructure investment initiative, and previous editions of the forum, in 2017 and 2019, drew leaders and officials from dozens of countries.

However, China has all-butshut its borders since Covid and cancelled most big in-person international events that it had been due to host.

China has recently begun to ease some elements of its strict zero-Covid policy, even as the country battles surging outbreaks in numerous cities, with many analysts predicting more significant opening up starting in March or April.

Xi was speaking on Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in

Bangkok.

Asia not an arena for big power rivalry, warns prez

Ahead of the summit, Xi said the Asia-Pacific is no one’s backyard and should not become an arena of big power rivalry, warning against Cold War tensions in a region at the heart of a contest for influence between Beijing and Washington.

Xi’s remarks on Thursday were an apparent reference to US efforts with regional allies and partners to blunt what they see as China’s growing coercive economic and military influence.

“No attempt to wage a new cold war will ever be allowed by the people or by our times,” Xi said in written remarks prepared for a business event linked to the summit.

“We should follow a path of openness and inclusiveness,” he said in the speech, which was provided by organisers, adding the region should not turn into “an arena for big power contest.”

“Unilateralism and protectionism should be rejected by all; any attempt to politicise and weaponise economic and trade relations should also be rejected by all.”

Relations between the world’s two largest economies have strained in recent years over issues like tariffs, Taiwan, intellectual property, the removal of Hong Kong’s autonomy and disputes over the South China Sea, among others.

In a move that may be seen by Beijing as a rebuke, a senior administration official said US vice-president Kamala Harris will on Tuesday visit the Philippine islands of Palawan on the edge of the disputed South China Sea.

The trip will make Harris the highest-ranking US official to visit the island chain adjacent to the Spratly Islands. China has dredged the sea floor to build harbours and airstrips on the Spratlys, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Host Thailand on Thursday said leaders gathering for the APEC forum should “rise above differences”.