在達沃斯 特朗普失風頭 沒轍了 世界都朝向中國

At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump - The New Times

A Sober Trump Reassures the Davos Elite - The New York Times

特朗普在達沃斯風頭被蓋？美媒：世界都“向著”中國

2018年01月29日 11:07 人民日報海外版-海外網

《紐約時報》報道截圖

　　海外網1月29日電 美國總統特朗普日前參加達沃斯論壇並發表演講，《紐約時報》卻評價道，特朗普這次風頭被中國蓋過了，“中國才是達沃斯論壇真正的明星”，“世界明顯‘向著’中國。”

　　美國總統特朗普1月26日打破慣例，親自出席達沃斯論壇並發表演講。闡述“‘美國優先’不代表美國孤立”的立場，成為本屆論壇的風雲人物。不過，《紐約時報》在對其達沃斯之行進行評價時卻稱，特朗普的風頭被掩蓋了，中國才是達沃斯論壇真正的“明星”。

　　《紐約時報》稱，很明顯，地緣政治的勢頭是向著北京的，並不是華盛頓，很多事實都可以證明這一點。

　　巴西總統米歇爾·特梅爾首先對中國提出的“一帶一路”倡議表示歡迎，認為這有助於促進拉美國家與中國的密切合作；巴基斯坦總理沙希德•哈坎•阿巴西也對中國在巴基斯坦推進的基礎設施建設項目給予好評，稱“不僅本國，也將給周邊各國帶來好處”。

　　《紐約時報》還報道，在達沃斯論壇中，中國代表劉鶴的演講是“入座率”最高的演講之一。劉鶴闡述了“中國經濟已由高速增長階段轉向高質量發展階段”的總要求。與會代表聽完後表示，中國的“一帶一路”倡議已經能與過去由美國主導的國際貿易體係相媲美。

　　德國工業巨頭西門子首席執行官喬·凱澤（Joe Kaeser）則評價道，“中國的‘一帶一路’倡議正在變成新的WTO”。

　　《紐約時報》提到了一些批評者對“一帶一路”的疑慮，擔心這將導致各國對華債務的增加，也增加安全風險。不過，真正參與到倡議中的國家似乎對此並不擔憂。巴西總統米歇爾·特梅爾就表示，他並不擔心中國在南美的影響力上升，這大幅地增加了巴西國內的投資，他強調“債務問題應該被視為財政問題，而非地緣政治問題。”

　　新加坡一位部長稱，中國可以以一種善意的方式運用其新獲得的影響力來減輕外界對其經濟迅速崛起的“恐懼”。另外，智利外交部長也讚道，“中國開放的經濟願景非常受歡迎，我們在這方麵看到了與美國的巨大差別。”

　　最後，《紐約時報》總結道，在世界都在因特朗普的“美國優先”理論而擔憂不已的時候，各國領導人都在利用達沃斯論壇爭奪與中國的合作機會，中國才是達沃斯論壇真正的“明星”。

　　據了解，世界經濟論壇2018年年會以“在分化的世界中打造共同命運”為主題，聚焦在地緣戰略競爭加劇背景下國際合作的意義。

At Davos, the Real Star May Have Been China, Not Trump

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By KEITH BRADSHERJAN. 28, 2018e reading the main story

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Liu He, a top economic policy adviser to President Xi Jinping of China, drew a full house to his presentation during a meeting of global business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland.CreditGian Ehrenzeller/European Pressphoto Agency

DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump used the World Economic Forum meeting to woo investors and business leaders by reassuring them that “America first does not mean America alone.” But it was clear in Davos, Switzerland, this past week that geopolitical momentum lay with Beijing, not Washington.

At one end of town, President Michel Temer of Brazil welcomed an unexpected offer from Beijing for Latin American nations to work closely with a Chinese initiative, known as the Belt and Road, intended to spread its economic and diplomatic influence abroad.

At the other end of town, a senior Chinese diplomat helped introduce the prime minister of Pakistan at a breakfast meeting. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi used his talk to praise the rapidly expanding Chinese investments in his country, including to build power stations and a large port.

One of the best-attended speeches at the forum was that of Liu He, a member of China’s ruling Politburo, who promoted the Belt and Roadinitiative, also known as One Belt, One Road. Participants here said the Chinese initiative was already rivaling more established, traditionally American-led, international institutions.

“The China One Belt, One Road is going to be the new W.T.O. — like it or not,” said Joe Kaeser, chief executive of Siemens, the German industrial giant, referring to the World Trade Organization.

Belt and Road takes its name from the idea that Beijing is spreading its influence along the ancient Silk Road that once linked imperial China to the Roman Empire and to the medieval Europe of Marco Polo. But that was not the only push to extend its presence abroad that Beijing was trying to showcase.

On Friday, the Chinese government used a policy document issued in Beijing to call for a “Polar Silk Road” that would link China to Europe and the Atlantic via a shipping route past the melting Arctic ice cap.

Belt and Road has been a centerpiece of the foreign policy of President Xi Jinping, and his promises of a “China Dream” of restoring his nation to past greatness. Unveiled in Kazakhstan in 2013, Belt and Road started as a plan to revive economic, investment and diplomatic links across Central Asia.

The plan gradually extended to include the Mideast, Europe and eastern Africa, with Beijing promising hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in highways, rail lines, ports, power stations and other infrastructure, much of it through loans from Chinese state-owned banks.

Critics have been skeptical, arguing that projects bankrolled through the initiative will bury the recipients in debt and cause environmental damage. The initiative has also been criticized as an easy line of financing for authoritarian regimes. China says its projects will be environmentally and financially sound, and that it does not seek a say in how other countries are governed.

 

The foreign minister of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, right, met with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, last week in Montevideo, Uruguay. CreditAndres Stapff/Reuters

While Davos was underway, China was making other efforts to stretch the geographical ambitions of its Belt and Road initiative even further. At a summit meeting for Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers in Santiago, Chile, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China called for close cooperation and participation by the region’s countries, although he stopped short of formally including them in the initiative.

In Davos, President Temer of Brazil said that he was not concerned about the rising influence in South America of China, which has increased investments in his country and extended enormous loans to Venezuela and Ecuador.

Venezuela has already proved unable to repay its creditors, which include Moscow and Beijing. The Russian government has used Venezuela’s overdue debts as a bargaining chip to win the right for Russian warships to visit Venezuelan ports.

Mr. Temer said the debts should be seen as a financial issue, not a geopolitical one. “The major concern they have is to recover the loans they gave Venezuela, they want their payment,” he said in an interview. “This was actually quite explained in the meetings we have.”

He also said that he was not worried by the strong Chinese interest in acquiring stakes in Brazil’s electrical distribution and other industries. “The U.S. invests as well in Brazil,” he said.

National leaders seemed to vie with one another in Davos in calling for closer cooperation with China. Mr. Abbasi of Pakistan dismissed recent controversy in his country over whether China’s giant construction projects were compromising Pakistan’s sovereignty, its environment or its financial stability.

“There is no major challenge we have not been able to resolve, and the sovereignty issues are very clear,” he said at a breakfast for business executives and the news media. He added that on financial and environmental issues relating to Belt and Road projects, “So far, I can tell you we are winning on both counts.”

Chinese officials used Davos as another opportunity to speak out against protectionism, in what analysts have described as an effort to take advantage of global concerns about the Trump administration and its warnings that it would pursue a more aggressive trade policy.

Beijing’s rhetoric comes despite China’s steep tariffs on a broad range of manufactured goods, including shoes and cars. China’s average tariffs on imports are actually triple those of the United States and double those of the European Union.

However, China has zero tariffs on many raw materials that it has in only limited quantities at home, like iron ore. As a result, its stance has been particularly welcomed by countries like Chile that produce a lot of raw materials but relatively few factory goods.

“In this, we see a very big difference with the United States,” Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz of Chile said, calling China’s “vision of openness and its rejection of protectionism very welcome.”

Follow Keith Bradsher on Twitter: @KeithBradsher.

Ernesto Londoño contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.

 America first does not mean America alone.

A Sober Trump Reassures the Davos Elite

By PETER BAKER   JAN. 26, 2018

 

President Trump on Friday with the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times

DAVOS, Switzerland — On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump the candidate denounced what he called “the false song of globalism.” A year after taking office, President Trump came on Friday to tell the elites at Davos, who composed the song, that maybe they could still perform in harmony.

In an encounter that might have surprised even him two years ago, Mr. Trump reassured the world’s political and financial leaders that his “America First” agenda was not a rejection of international cooperation. The combative nationalist gave way to the let’s-make-a-deal businessman, as he invited them to invest in what he called a resurgent United States.

“I believe in America,” Mr. Trump told a jampacked auditorium on the last day of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. “As president of the United States, I will always put America first, just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also. But America first does not mean America alone. When the United States grows, so does the world.”

That did not mean Mr. Trump has joined the globalism chorus. He has spent much of the last year trying to dismantle the international political and economic system represented by the Davos consensus — ripping up or renegotiating trade agreements, threatening or imposing tariffs on imports and working to curb the flow of immigration. In his speech on Friday, Mr. Trump insisted that cross-border trade had to be made fairer and vowed to take action against predatory practices.

“We cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others,” he said. “We support free trade, but it needs to be fair and it needs to be reciprocal because, in the end, unfair trade undermines us all. The United States will no longer turn a blind eye to unfair economic practices.”

His moment in the global sun was shadowed to an extent by a New York Times report that he had tried to fire the special counsel investigating his campaign ties to Russia and backed off only when the White House counsel threatened to resign. Mr. Trump dismissed the report as “fake news,” even though other news outlets confirmed it, and he otherwise tried to ignore it publicly.

But his unlikely visit to Davos was meant to be a shift in tone from his populist, protectionist rhetoric. He went so far as to say that he would be willing to re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Asian trade agreement he abandoned last year, if it was renegotiated on better terms. That offer came just days after the other 11 members opted to form their own bloc without the United States.

“We would consider negotiating with the rest, either individually, or perhaps as a group, if it is in the interests of all,” Mr. Trump said, despite his oft-stated insistence on one-on-one trade deals rather than multinational pacts.

Mr. Trump was largely well received by the billionaire investors, corporate executives and heads of state who a year ago were fretting that his election would mean the demise of the global order they had built, but today were celebrating his tax cuts and regulatory rollback.

“The economy has improved since Trump came in,” said Kanika Dewan, president of Bramco, a company that builds airports around the globe from headquarters in New Delhi and Bahrain. “His offensive comments are mostly about capturing media attention. At the end of the day, he’s not going to do anything to destroy his legacy.”

Brian Mikkelsen, Denmark’s minister of industry, business and financial affairs, welcomed Mr. Trump’s legislation slashing corporate tax rates. “I’m quite sure, talking to Danish business leaders, that they will invest more in the States because of these tax cuts,” he said.

But like others, Mr. Mikkelsen emerged somewhat uncertain about which Mr. Trump to expect in the months ahead. “It was impossible to guess what direction he will take” on trade, he said.

Mr. Trump used the overnight visit to salve other wounds. He expressed regret for sharing anti-Muslim videos posted by an ultranationalist British fringe group, which offended Prime Minister Theresa May. “If you are telling me they’re horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologize, if you’d like me to do that,” Mr. Trump told Britain’s ITV.

For Mr. Trump, whose rule is “never apologize,” that was an unusual concession. But he offered no public apology for recent offensive commentsabout African countries when he met on Friday with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, the chairman of the African Union. The union demanded a retraction and apology at the time of the remarks, but neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Kagame mentioned the incident on camera on Friday.

Beyond those meetings, Mr. Trump’s visit focused to a striking degree on business. His speech mentioned priorities like terrorism, Iran and North Korea in passing, but included nothing about China, Russia, Europe, climate change, global health or other priorities. He related to the audience as a fellow capitalist, asserting, incorrectly, that he was the only businessman to have served as president.

Declaring that “America is roaring back,” he promoted a story of economic rebirth. “The world is witnessing the resurgence of a strong and prosperous America,” he said. “I’m here to deliver a simple message: There has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States. America is open for business, and we are competitive once again.”

His comeback message, however, was tempered by a report that came out while he was on stage. The American economy grew by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, healthy but lower than the 3 percent or 4 percent or higher that he has aspired to. Over all, the economy grew 2.3 percent in 2017, Mr. Trump’s first year in office, up from 1.5 percent in 2016, PresidentBarack Obama’s last year, but lower than in either 2014 or 2015.

As he often does, Mr. Trump presented a selective version of the last year. He boasted that African-American unemployment was at a new low, but did not mention that it began falling in 2011, and that the decline this year simply continued the progress that started under Mr. Obama.

He claimed credit for creating 2.4 million jobs since his election, but the number of new jobs in 2017 was no higher than in any of the last six years of Mr. Obama’s tenure.

Still, he was right that stock markets have soared to remarkable heights on his watch and that the American business community had responded to his tax cuts and regulatory rollback with enthusiasm. His surprisingly warm reception here, despite the schism over trade and global affairs, underscored the optimism of many corporate leaders.

Klaus Schwab, who founded the World Economic Forum in 1971, not only praised Mr. Trump on stage, but also seemed to exonerate the myriad incendiary actions that have troubled many in the corporate community. “I’m aware that your strong leadership is open to misconceptions and biased interpretations,” Mr. Schwab said. Some in the audience felt that went too far, and booed.

Mr. Trump’s speech was largely written by Gary D. Cohn, the president’s national economic adviser and a former Goldman Sachs banker, and Robert Porter, the White House staff secretary. Stephen Miller, the immigration hard-liner who often crafts the president’s more provocative speeches, was busy working on next week’s State of the Union address.

In conversations over the last few days, Mr. Trump agreed to offer a more optimistic, less strident tone to show flexibility without making any substantive compromise. He stuck closely to the script on the teleprompter. Even during a later 10-minute session of questions and answers with Mr. Schwab, Mr. Trump generally stuck to the talking points, although he could not resist a jab at the “fake” media and noted that many in the room supported his Democratic opponent in 2016.

“He was the marketer-in-chief,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit, a research and information company focused on energy and other sectors. “He was selling America, he was selling the economic story and he was selling himself to an international business community who expected something else.”

Peter S. Goodman, Keith Bradsher and Rebecca Blumenstein contributed reporting.

Follow Peter Baker on Twitter: @peterbakernyt.