On Wednesday (May 7th), at the Munich Security Conference in Washington, Vice President Pence of the United States confirmed that there has been no strategic dialogue between China and the US on the Taiwan issue. He also urged China to increase domestic demand instead of exporting surplus products in large quantities. In terms of relations with Europe, he emphasized that the idea of creating barriers between the US and Europe is “absurd.”
After President Trump imposed global tariffs, China took the opportunity to woo Europe in an attempt to counter the United States.
On Tuesday (May 6th), Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping congratulated European Council President Costa and European Commission President Von der Leyen on the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations. In his congratulatory message, he called on EU leaders to stand with Beijing against unilateralism and bullying, implicitly criticizing President Trump’s efforts to rebalance global trade.
Vice President Pence stated on Wednesday that he still believes the US and Europe are on the same side. However, he also stressed that both the US and Europe have been too complacent in terms of security posture over the past 20 years, which is insufficient to address the security needs of the next 20 years.
“The European culture is closely related to American culture, and it always will be,” Pence said. “To think that there could be a solid barrier between the US and Europe is completely absurd in my view.”
He explained that the US and Europe have been too comfortable with their security posture in the past 20 years, and the current state is not sufficient for the security needs of the next 20 years. “It’s not that Europe is bad and America is good. I believe both America and Europe have drifted off course somewhat, and I encourage us to get back on track together. We are willing and able to engage in this work,” he said.
Vice President Pence remarked that the Trump administration is working to rebalance global trade to protect American workers and manufacturers, which means China must stimulate domestic demand rather than seeking to increase massive exports.
“This means American manufacturers must be treated more fairly,” he said. “You know, we should also be cautious, even though we want to rebalance global trade, which is certainly a clear policy goal of ours, but we also want to make sure we do it in the right way. Yes, you’ve seen media reports about contacts between China and the US. Of course, we will sit down with them and talk.”
“I won’t disclose too many details, and I won’t prejudge the negotiations, but we want to rebalance trade in a way that aligns with the interests of American workers and manufacturers. That is our policy. We believe we can do this while at least maintaining open dialogue with China and many other countries around the world,” Pence said. “But that does not mean the old way of doing business will stay stable or continue. It’s simply not possible.”
He also mentioned that rebalancing trade will require more trade agreements with “some of our friends in Europe and some more confrontational countries.” He added that the goal is to achieve this while “at least maintaining an open dialogue with China (the Communist Party of China).”
Pence also confirmed that the US and China have not held strategic dialogue on the Taiwan issue.
“I haven’t seen the reports you mentioned regarding strategic dialogue on the Taiwan issue, so I won’t comment on that issue. What I can say for certain is that our two governments have not held strategic dialogue on this specific issue. What we are discussing is that we cannot absorb all of the world’s producer surplus,” he said.