Pence puts off China speech ahead of Trump-Xi talks

Vice President Mike Pence waves to the audience at the end of his commencement speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, May 11, 2019.

Jonathan Drake | Reuters

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Friday called off a planned speech that had been initially cast as a sequel to a blistering broadside he delivered in October, in order to avert tensions ahead of a planned meeting on the U.S.-China trade war, a White House official said.

The decision came a week ahead of what could be pivotal talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan about tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of each other's goods.

"There is room for progress, and even if incremental, we didnt want to step on that potential," a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity about why the speech was called off.

Trump and Xi spoke by phone on Tuesday about the summit and formally agreed to meet to talk about the trade war.

"Following the positive conversation with President Xi, the president and the (vice president) thought it would be more appropriate to give the speech after the G20," the official said. The cancellation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

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