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Thomas Maresca, Special to USA TODAY Published 2:35 a.m. ET Nov. 17, 2018 | Updated 9:22 a.m. ET Nov. 17, 2018

The U.S. and China offered rival visions for the Asia-Pacific at a summit Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence saying there was no room for "empire or aggression" in the region. (Nov. 15) AP

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waves before he boards Air Force Two at the Yokota U.S. Air Force Base in Fussa, outside Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018.(Photo: Toru Hanai, AP)

SEOUL Vice President Mike Pence laid out a forceful challenge to Chinas growing global influence on Saturday, saying that the United States offered countries a better option for economic partnership and criticizing Chinese authoritarianism and aggression.

Pence was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, a gathering of political and business leaders from 21 Pacific Rim countries and territories that make up 60 percent of the world economy.

In his address, Pence said the United Stateshad a vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The United States has extended a hand in the spirit of friendship and partnership, seeking collaboration and not control, he said.

Pence touted U.S. investment as an alternative to Beijings trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure and development project spanning Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has come under criticism for leaving some countries deeply indebted to Beijing and saddled with projects that have become white elephants. The government of Sri Lanka, for example, recently handed over its $1-billion Chinese-developed Hambantota Port to China on a 99-year lease after it couldnt meet its debt commitments.

Other countries, such as Malaysia, have canceled or are reviewing billions of dollars in BRI projects.

Know that the United States offers a better option, Pence said. We don't drown our partners in a sea of debt, we don't coerce or compromise your independence. The United States deals openly and fairly. We do not offer a constricting belt or a one-way road.

Pence defended the $250 billion tariffs that President Donald Trump has imposed on Chinese goods, which has sparked a trade war between the worlds two largest economies this year, and said that the U.S. could double that figure.

The vice president accused China of putting up tremendous barriers to companies entering its market and accused Beijing of unfair practices such as forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft and industrial subsidies on an unprecedented scale.

The United States will not change course until China changes its ways, Pence said.

But while Pence reiterated this administrations America First vision, China and other nations defended the system of global free trade at the APEC Summit.

Delivering a keynote address directly before Pence, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against protectionism and unilateralism and said that countries were now facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation.

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"Mankind has once again reached a crossroads," he said. "Which direction should we choose? Cooperation or confrontation? Openness or closing doors? Win-win progress or a zero-sum game?"

Xi also defended Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, saying that it was not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda.

It is not an exclusive club that is closed to non-members nor is it a trap as some people have labeled it," he said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also pushed back against the rising of trade protectionism.

"I know there are legitimate questions around trade arrangements, he said. But the solution to perceived unfair trade practices is more likely to be found around the negotiating table than it is in rebuilding a tariff wall."

"Our efforts must be about persuading and convincing our peoples again about the domestic benefits (of free trade), Morrison added.

Pence used his speech to criticize Chinas rising assertiveness in the region, particularly in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Beijing has been building military bases on artificial islands.

Authoritarianism and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific, he said.

The United States of America will continue to uphold the freedom of the seas and the skies, he said. We will continue to fly and sail wherever international law allows and our national interest demands. Harassment will only strengthen our resolve. We will not change course.

tariff(Photo: usa today)

Beijing and Washington have had a number of close encounters in the South China Sea, as the U.S. Navy conducts freedom of navigation operations in waters that China claims sovereignty over.

Pence also announced a military pact with Australia and Papua New Guinea to expand operations at a Manus Island naval base in PNG, in a move that is seen as a counter to Chinas aggressive push for influence in the South Pacific.

"We will work with these nations to protect the sovereignty and maritime routes of Pacific Island nations," he said.

Trump, who is not attending the APEC summit, is scheduled to meet with President Xi at the G20 Summit in Argentina at the end of the month.

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Mike Pence challenges China at Asia-Pacific economic summit

Its Veterans Day in America, and all across the country Americans will pause to pay tribute to men and women who served in the armed forces of the United States. We have marked this day since the guns of the First World War fell silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month exactly 100 years ago today.

President Trump will observe this day in France at the Armistice Day Centennial Commemoration. For our part, my wife and I will meet with veterans and service members at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

From the time of our nations birth, nearly 50 million men and women have answered the call to service, and nearly 20 million still walk among us today. Even now, a new generation of American veterans is being forged across the wider world

The debt our nation owes those who have worn the uniform is a debt we will never be able to fully repay. But just as those courageous men and women have fought for us, our entire administration has fought for them.

These courageous patriots have served the world over. From Bunker Hill to Belleau Wood and from the Coral Sea to Kandahar, American military members have offered their blood, toil, tears and sweat in service to our country. On Veterans Day we remember those who came home, but we cannot forget those who gave the last full measure of their devotion for our freedom.

It is written that if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect. The debt our nation owes those who have worn the uniform is a debt we will never be able to fully repay. But just as those courageous men and women have fought for us, our entire administration has fought for them.

Veterans have no better friend than President Trump.

This president and our administration understand that veterans benefits are not entitlements theyre earned. They are the ongoing compensation for services rendered in the uniform of the United States. And since the outset of our administration, weve taken decisive action to make good on our promise to the heroes whove served.

President Trump has signed the most substantial veterans health-care reform in a generation, making Veterans Choice a permanent part of American law. Today our veterans have access to the real-time, world-class care they have earned, whether at a private health-care provider or the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This law will also improve the VAs ability to recruit and retain quality health-care professionals, give veterans access to walk-in care, and expand health-care choices, including options for telehealth and mental health services.

President Trump has taken action to hold the VA accountable, signing the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Since our election, more than 4,200 VA employees have been fired, suspended or demoted for negligent behavior.

We enacted the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, which will improve our efforts to provide retroactive benefits to Americas veterans. The VA has already identified and paid over $115 million over the last year.

We have also made historic progress towards ending veteran homelessness. Thanks to our reforms at the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly 54,000 veterans found permanent housing and access to supportive services last year.

And President Trump has taken steps to increase opportunities for veterans after they return to civilian life, including through enhancing and expanding the post-9/11 GI Bill to a lifetime benefit.

Our actions are having a real impact on the men and women who have sacrificed for our country: health-care wait times are down, VA accountability is up, and under our administration unemployment among veterans has reached its lowest level in nearly two decades.

While we honor our veterans by ensuring they receive the benefits they have earned, we also honor them by supporting the men and women who serve in the armed forces today.

With the strong support of veterans organizations across the nation, President Trump signed into law the largest investment in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. We are once again giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen the resources and training they need to accomplish their mission.

The United States of America remains the land of the free because we are still the home of the brave. The men and women whove served in our armed forces are those brave, and today all of us should do our part to honor their service and appreciate their sacrifice.

So on this 100th Veterans Day, I encourage every American to thank a veteran. Outside the grocery store, at your place of worship, or maybe over the backyard fence, I urge you to extend your hand, look them in the eye, and say those words that every veteran deserves to hear: Thank you for your service.

To all of those whove worn the uniform, on behalf of a grateful nation, Happy Veterans Day.

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Vice President Mike Pence: Veterans Day Veterans have no ...

Michael R. Pence is the 48th and current Vice President of the United States.Vice President Micheal Pence poses for his official portrait at The White House, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 24, 2017. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

Michael R. Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana, on June 7, 1959, one of six children born to Edward and Nancy Pence. As a young boy he had a front row seat to the American Dream. After his grandfather immigrated to the United States when he was 17, his family settled in the Midwest. The future Vice President watched his Mom and Dad build everything that matters a family, a business, and a good name. Sitting at the feet of his mother and his father, who started a successful convenience store business in their small Indiana town, he was raised to believe in the importance of hard work, faith, and family.

Vice President Pence set off for Hanover College, earning his bachelors degree in history in 1981. While there, he renewed his Christian faith which remains the driving force in his life. He later attended Indiana University School of Law and met the love of his life, Second Lady Karen Pence.

After graduating, Vice President Pence practiced law, led the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, and began hostingThe Mike Pence Show, a syndicated talk radio show and a weekly television public affairs program in Indiana. Along the way he became the proud father to three children, Michael, Charlotte, and Audrey.

Growing up in Indiana, surrounded by good, hardworking Hoosiers, Vice President Pence always knew that he needed to give back to the state and the country that had given him so much. In 2000, he launched a successful bid for his local congressional seat, entering the United States House of Representatives at the age of 40.

The people of East-Central Indiana elected Vice President Pence six times to represent them in Congress. On Capitol Hill he established himself as a champion of limited government, fiscal responsibility, economic development, educational opportunity, and the U.S. Constitution. His colleagues quickly recognized his leadership ability and unanimously elected him to serve as Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee and House Republican Conference Chairman. In this role, the Vice President helped make government smaller and more effective, reduce spending, and return power to state and local governments.

In 2013, Vice President Pence left the nations capital when Hoosiers elected him the 50th Governor of Indiana. He brought the same limited government and low tax philosophy to the Indiana Statehouse. As Governor, he enacted the largest income tax cut in Indiana history, lowering individual income tax rates, the business personal property tax, and the corporate income tax in order to strengthen the States competitive edge and attract new investment and good-paying jobs. Due to his relentless focus on jobs, the states unemployment rate fell by half during his four years in office, and at the end of his term, more Hoosiers were working than at any point in the states 200-year history.

As Governor of Indiana, Vice President Pence increased school funding, expanded school choice, and created the first state-funded Pre-K plan in Indiana history. He made career and technical education a priority in every high school. Under Vice President Pences leadership, Indiana, known as The Crossroads of America, invested more than $800 million in new money for roads and bridges across the state. Despite the record tax cuts and new investments in roads and schools, the state remained fiscally responsible, as the Vice President worked with members of the Indiana General Assembly to pass two honestly balanced budgets that left the state with strong reserves and AAA credit ratings that were the envy of the nation.

It was Indianas success story, Vice President Pences record of legislative and executive experience, and his strong family values that prompted President Donald Trump to select Mike Pence as his running mate in July 2016. The American people elected President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence on November 8, 2016. President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence entered office on January 20, 2017.

Vice President Mike Pence remains grateful for the grace of God, the love and support of his family, and the blessings of liberty that are every Americans birthright. He looks forward to working with the American people as together they seek to Make America Great Again.

Follow the Office of the Vice President on Twitter at@VP.

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Vice President Mike Pence | The White House

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at fundraiser for Josh Hawley in Springfield on Monday Springfield News-Leader

Vice President Mike Pence is presented with a green and gold jersey by Gov. Scott Walker at the Oneida Golf & Country Club on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 in Green Bay, Wis.(Photo: Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

WASHINGTON After Josh Hawley decided to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen.Claire McCaskill in the 2018 midterm elections, he got plenty of campaign advice from a seasoned fellow Republican: Vice President Mike Pence.

The vice president talked to Hawley about messaging and pressed him on his plan for raising money to compete with McCaskill, a prolific fundraiser. It was Pence, in fact, who had helped convinceHawley to enter Missouri's Senate race, what has become one of the most closely watched contests in Tuesdays elections.

Pences involvement in the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress has taken him to at least three dozen states over the past 10 months for rallies,fundraising events and to sell the GOP tax cuts. While predecessors such as Dick Cheney and Joe Biden also campaigned intensively during midterm elections, Pence, a former governor and six-term congressman who enjoys a good fight, has taken to the task with particular zeal, wooing donors, sending six-figure checks from his political action committee, to gubernatorial candidates,revving up the Christian conservative base and cutting commercials for Republican Senate candidates.

Hes been able to do so without drawing a lot of the attention and scrutiny that Trump has. Instead of the large rallies that Trump feeds off of with freewheeling remarks, Pences has smaller, more traditional politicalappearances where he refers to himself as Mike from what we call the Walmart Wing of the West Wing and sticks to the script.

Let's make sure thatblue wavehits a red wall right here, Pence has said in various iterations in Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Oklahoma and elsewhere, pounding out the sentencewith pauses in between the last four words.

Pence can comeacross as earnest but affable if a little artificial as he leans into his lectern, reassuring farmers in Iowa that Trumps trade battles will work out well for them or drawing standing ovations when taking a victory lap on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

While Trump revels in the did he just say that? comments, even Pences recent warning that the election is a choice between jobs or mobs sounds more likea rhetorical flourish than a battle cry.

If Trump dominates the headlines, Pence has amassed a different measure of impact. Hes raised more than $70million for fellow Republicans andmade more than 140candidate rallies or fundraising events, according to his political team.

Hes been a secret weapon for so many members, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Vice President Mike Pence appears on stage with U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley, who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri, at the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center during a private fundraising event in Springfield, Mo. on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018.(Photo: Nathan Papes/News-Leader)

But groups like Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign, which have organized protesters at some of his events and say opposition to Pences record has helped them raise money and motivate their voters, are trying to prevent him from flying completely under the radar.

Hes just sort of a blank slate in a lot of peoples minds, said Geoff Wetrosky, campaign director for the Human Rights Campaign. So were trying to make sure that people understand his record. Because he is polarizing. People just dont know it.

The amount of Pences political activity and fact that his chief of staff is a political operative and Pence is the first vice president to create his own political action committee in his first term stand out, said Joel Goldstein, a vice presidential expert at the Saint Louis University School of Law.

My sense is that Pence is spending relatively more of his time doing political things than did other recent vice presidents, Goldstein said.

But dont suggest at least not to Pence that he is doing it for any reason other than to help Trump.

Pence has gone out of his way to portray himself as loyal to the president, raising money and stumping for candidates to help Trump succeed and not to benefit his own political aspirations.

We understand these things dont hurt you, said Marty Obst, Pences senior political adviser. But the future is a long way away.

But if the future comes sooner than expected such as through a report from special counsel Robert Mueller serious enough to make congressional Republicans wonder if they want to stick with Trump the amount of time Pence has spent helping members of Congress will be remembered.

Its a lot easier to break ranks and vote articles of impeachment if you feel that the person who will become president not only reflects your values and your policy positions, but is your friend, said Elaine Kamarck, a scholar at the Brookings Institution who worked for Vice President Al Gore. Who has friends among House members? It aint Donald Trump. Its Mike Pence.

Trump chose the then-Indiana governor and former House member as his running mate in 2016 in part for his ties to the GOP establishment and fundraising skills.

Both assets have deep roots.

As president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation in the early 1990s, Pence made influential friends throughout the country through a network of conservative think tanks. When Pence was elected to the House in 2000, he received substantial support from the campaign arm of House Republicans, which sent the House speaker and other big names to campaign for him.

Vice President Mike Pence visits with supporters as he stumps for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Martha McSally on Oct. 26, 2018, in Yuma, Arizona.(Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic)

After winning his election, Pence overpaid his dues to the National Republican Congressional Committee, raising more money than he was expected to and continuing throughout his career to contribute despite not having the committee assignments that make it easy to collect dollars, according to former NRCC chair Tom Davis.

Mike has always been grateful for what the party did for him, said Davis, who called Pence's current level of involvement "extraordinary."

This is part of his DNA, he said.

Likewise, as governor, Pence was a top fundraiser among fellow governors for his GOP colleagues in the 2014 midterms.

And when Pence joined Trump on the 2016 ticket, the Republican National Committee gave him a list of donors to work on.

He continues to be the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval to a lot of conservative donors, Davis said. He can talk about the interest groups that make up the conservative coalition in a way that very few people can do.

As planning for the midterm elections got underway, Pence plottedwith McCarthy about going to California because of the number of vulnerable GOP incumbents there representing districts that Trump lost. The duo created a joint fundraising committee that collected $5 million in two days for multiple lawmakers more than I thought they would get, McCarthy said.

The strategy was quickly expanded to other states, providing crucial fundraising help for incumbents in a year when many were getting outraised by Democratic challengers.

On the Senate side, Pences extensive help for Hawley, the Missouri Senate candidate, includedserving as the main attraction at fundraisers in July and October, touting the GOP tax cuts with Hawley by his side in St. Louis, and praising Hawley as a man of faith and of principle at a rally in Springfield.

I cant remember somebody else that has traveled as much as the vice president, McCarthy said. He understands whats needed in a campaign.

One reason Pence is campaigning so hard is he knows what its like to be in the minority.

I was in Congress the last time Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House, Pence said at recent rally for Nevada Rep. Cresent Hardy, one of dozen candidates he campaigned for over a four-day period. And you dont want that to ever happen again.

Ron Klain, who worked for the last two Democratic vice presidents, said Pences political activity does appear to be at the high end. But it also seems to be concentrated more at bridging the gap between traditional party groups and the Trump political apparatus rather than trying to reach out to swing voters, he said.

Clearly he is a lightning rod for some progressive groups in a way that really wasnt the case on the opposite side for either (Al) Gore or (Joe) Biden, Klain said.

Planned Parenthood noticed that right after the presidential election when the group started receiving contributions in Pences name about one-quarter of donations collected in the first month. Planned Parenthood still receives thousands of donations a month in honor of Pence. And in an election year in which women are driving much of the voter enthusiasm, the group has been highlighting Pences strong anti-abortion record and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.

"While he may not get as much attention as Trump," said Erica Sackin, Planned Parenthoods director of political communications, "he really embodies the same kind of anti-woman policy and sentiment that we're seeing being pushed by the leadership of the Republican Party and that people are rebelling against."

Democratic candidates have also tried to use Pence to their advantage. During a candidate debate, Sen. Elizabeth Warrenof Massachusettsattemptedto tie Republican challenger Geoff Diehl to Pences record on gay rights, including his backingas governor a religious freedom law that critics said would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Applying political jujitsu, Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, uses Pences expansion of Medicaid in Indiana to argue that Georgia should do the same.

But Pence, who has already made severaltrips to Georgia, squeezedin another trip Thursday to help turn out the vote for Abrams opponent, Brian Kemp.

Noting that Abrams was getting help from Oprah Winfrey andWill Ferrell, Pence channeled Ferrell's "Anchorman" character Ron Burgundy when he joked:"Im kind of a big deal too."

Pencewas also planning to go to Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, staying on the road "almost continuously" and making multiple stops a day in the run-up tothe election.

Win or lose the midterms, Obst said, Pence will have left nothing on the table.

More: Midterm elections 2018: Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle gin up GOP base like 'rock stars'

More: Midterm elections: Fearing loss of the House, Republicans blame each other. 'Welcome to Washington'

More: Here's what 27 bellwether races say about a possible Democratic blue wave

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Mike Pence seen as 'secret weapon' for Midterm elections ...

More than three months of drama and controversy over the future of the Supreme Court is set to end in the next 36 hours. The Senate will decide Friday morning whether to send the president's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to a final vote, expected early Saturday evening. Republicans control the Senate 51 to 49, so the GOP can only afford to have one of its senators vote "no."

Three Republican senators are considered undecided: Senators Susan Collins, Jeff Flake, and Lisa Murkowski. Sources tell CBS News Vice President Mike Pence will be in Washington this weekend, in case his vote is needed to break a tie.

On Friday, we should know once and for all whether Kavanaugh has the support he needs to get confirmed because the way those few remaining undecided senators vote to end debate today could signal how they plan to vote Saturday on final confirmation. Forces on both sides have been piling on the pressure all the way to the end.

In a final bid before the vote, anti-Kavanaugh protesters spent the night on Capitol grounds, egged on by Democrats. His confirmation now hinges on one Democrat and three Republicans.

According to a summary released overnight by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the FBI interviewed 10 people who might have had firsthand knowledge of the sexual assault allegations by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez.

For Ford, the FBI spoke with three people she claimed were at the party in question: Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and Leyland Keyser. They also spoke with Timothy Gaudette and Christopher Garrett, Kavanaugh's classmates who were referenced on his calendars.

The FBI also interviewed Ramirez, along with two eyewitnesses named by Ramirez, as well as her close friend from college. According to the Republican summary, the FBI found no corroboration of the allegations made by Ford or Ramirez.

Still, North Dakota Democrat Heidi Heitkamp announced she was a "no."

"I can't get up in the morning and look at the life experience that I have had and say yes to Judge Kavanaugh," Heitkamp said.

Kavanaugh, who's denied the allegations, wrote an op-ed Thursday night admitting he "might have been too emotional at times, I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said." He wrote it "reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused."

Ford's lawyers called the investigation a "stain on the process" because the FBI "declined to interview" friends and others who could have backed her up.

"The report ignores some of the absolutely crucial witnesses," said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

CBS News has confirmed that the FBI limited its scope at the direction of Republicans and the White House.

When asked why the FBI did not interview people Ford had confided in, Republican Sen. Mike Lee replied, "Our request was to the White House, the White House then made the request of the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation into current, credible accusations of sexual misconduct. They did that."

Lee's comments are a reflection of just how vague Republicans and the White House have been about the marching orders they gave the FBI. To give you a sense of how intense the last minute lobbying is, the White House, former President George W. Bush, and other heavy hitters have all been working the phones trying to ensure that Kavanaugh gets confirmed.

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Mike Pence expected to be on standby in case tie-breaker ...