Washington — The US vowed on Wednesday to work with India in preference to China over the next century to promote a "free and open" Asia-Pacific region led by prosperous democracies. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivered his unexpectedly sharp message to Beijing on the same day President Xi Jinping opened the Communist Party congress. His upbeat speech was designed to set the stage for a visit next week to China’s main Asian rival India, and to lay out a vision for a 100-year "strategic partnership" between Washington and New Delhi. But President Donald Trump’s chief diplomat also took the opportunity to compare the US and India — the world’s "two greatest democracies" — with China, which he said was undermining the "rules-based international order." Coming on the day Xi opened a party congress designed to further secure his long-term control of what is already one of the most powerful Chinese presidencies in history, Tillerson’s address will be seen as provocative. After the s...
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