Saturday, April 1, 2023
British Herald
Advertisement
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
British Herald
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
British Herald
Home World Asia

Trump’s summit no-show draws Asian nations closer together

Editorial Bureau by Editorial Bureau
November 16, 2018
0
Trump’s summit no-show draws Asian nations closer together

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with China's Premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Singapore November 15, 2018. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS

74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t make it to this week’s summit of Asian nations in Singapore, but his influence was still keenly felt among the leaders who gathered in the city.

You might also like

 Pakistan hits highest inflation in 50 years

Members of exiled Chinese church detained in Thailand

Indian top opposition leader, Modi critic expelled from parliament

One prime minister warned that the trade war between Washington and Beijing could trigger a “domino effect” of protectionist steps by other countries. Another fretted that the international order could splinter into rival blocs.

“The most important and talked-about … leader, President Trump, is the only one that did not turn up,” said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

And yet, in Trump’s absence, countries from South to East Asia pressed on with forging multilateral ties on trade and investment among themselves, including with China.

China’s representative at the meetings, Premier Li Keqiang, egged them on.

“Now the world is facing rising protectionism. It is all the more important for us to come together and respond to the complex world situation to uphold multilateralism and free trade,” Li said on Thursday.

The U.S. president’s lack of engagement with Asian nations came just days after a trip to France for World War One commemorations at which he appeared isolated from NATO allies.

Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Trump was inadvertently bringing Asian nations together.

“Not necessarily by design, but because he is not being a consistent and reassuring presence, and because his policies have tended to fracture the natural order that Asia is dependent upon,” he said. “Asians are trying to figure out what else they can do without relying on America too much.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

TWO POWERS: TWO STRATEGIES

As well as the summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian nations in Singapore, Trump will also skip the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Papua New Guinea at the end of the week.

At APEC on Friday, President Xi Jinping will showcase China’s Belt and Road initiative to Pacific leaders, several of whom are expected to sign up to the infrastructure investment drive.

Xi’s multi-billion-dollar plan, which aims to bolster a sprawling network of land and sea links with Asian neighbours and far beyond, is viewed with suspicion in Western capitals as an attempt to assert Chinese influence.

Trump attended both the ASEAN and APEC meetings in 2017, and his decision to stay away this year has raised questions about Washington’s commitment to a regional strategy to counter China.

Vice President Mike Pence, who represented Trump in Singapore, told the meeting that United States’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific is “steadfast and enduring.”

Asia presents the Trump administration with some of its most pressing foreign policy challenges, including its strategic rivalry with China and efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

Washington has touted what it calls an “Indo-Pacific” strategy aimed at greater regional cooperation, notably with India, Australia and Japan, to counter China’s influence, including in the disputed South China Sea, where it conducts naval patrols to challenge what it sees as Beijing’s excessive territorial claims.

Pence said on Thursday – without naming China – that there was no place for “empire and aggression” in the Indo-Pacific.

His comments follow a major speech in October in which he flagged a tougher approach by Washington toward Beijing, accusing China of “malign” efforts to undermine Trump and reckless military actions in the South China Sea.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said: “We welcome contributions by China to regional development, so long as it adheres to the highest standards the people of the region demand. We are concerned by China’s use of coercion, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other states to heed China’s strategic agenda.”

Shortly before Pence spoke in Singapore, the U.S. Navy announced that two of its aircraft carriers with around 150 fighter jets were conducting warfare drills in the Philippine Sea, a show of force in waters south of China and within striking distance of North Korea.

TAKING SIDES

Pence told reporters in Singapore that he had been struck in conversations with world leaders by “the connection that President Trump has made” with them through his vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

However, analysts say that countries across Asia are waiting for the United States to put substance behind its Indo-Pacific rhetoric, and Trump’s absence from the summits only served to heighten concerns among Southeast Asian states that Washington no longer has their back.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday it was “very desirable” for ASEAN not to have to take sides with world powers, but there may come a time when it would “have to choose one or the other.”

Some Southeast Asian nations may be quietly impressed by the United States’ robust approach to Beijing on trade, intellectual property issues and the South China Sea, but others have made it clear they already see China’s rise as inevitable.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, asked on Thursday about the U.S. Navy drills, noted that China already occupies contested South China Sea islands and added: “Why do you have to create frictions … that will prompt a response from China?.”

But Cook said Southeast Asian states’ hedging and unwillingness to publicly criticise Chinese aggression have contributed to Washington’s posture shift in Asia.

“This change is certainly not all because of Trump,” he said. “The choices of Southeast Asian states in the end bear some responsibility.”

(This story fixes typo in para 10)

(Additional reporting by John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore, Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson)

Share30Tweet19
Editorial Bureau

Editorial Bureau

Recommended For You

 Pakistan hits highest inflation in 50 years

April 1, 2023
Pakistan Inflation

Year-on-year inflation in Pakistan reached 35.37 percent in March, the highest level in nearly five decades. As the government scrambled to satisfy International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions in...

Read more

Members of exiled Chinese church detained in Thailand

March 31, 2023
60 members of a Chinese Christian church are in detention in Thailand.

According to supporters, more than 60 members of a Chinese Christian church are in detention in Thailand. This is a raising concern that they may be sent to...

Read more

Indian top opposition leader, Modi critic expelled from parliament

March 25, 2023
Rahul Gandhi expelled by Modi Government

Rahul Gandhi, India’s top opposition leader and fierce critic of Prime Minister Modi was expelled from Parliament Friday. Rahul Gandhi's removal from parliament as a result of his...

Read more

Road accident in Hong Kong leaves some 70 people injured

March 24, 2023
Road accident in Hong Kong

Four passenger buses and a truck collided near a Hong Kong road tunnel Friday.  About 70 people were injured, including children, most of the injuries were minor. The...

Read more

Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwan leader will visit China

March 20, 2023
Ma Ying-jeou, former Taiwan leader will visit China

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China next week. In an effort to defuse hostilities between the self-governing island and the mainland, according to a spokesman. Ma...

Read more
No Result
View All Result
Pakistan Inflation

 Pakistan hits highest inflation in 50 years

April 1, 2023
UK joins trans-Pacific trade bloc: Likely to boost GDP

UK joins trans-Pacific trade bloc: Likely to boost GDP

April 1, 2023
Army accused of holding back info on missing students in Mexico

Army accused of holding back info on missing students in Mexico

April 1, 2023

Tags

amazon australia boris johnson brexit britain British Herald CHINA Coronavirus coronavirus cases coronavirus outbreak COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine daily roundup Donald Trump Dubai expo 2020 england European Union facebook France germany Hong Kong india iran israel italy japan joe biden lockdown London new zealand north korea Rishi Sunak russia south korea spain T20 T20 World Cup taiwan thailand trending Trump turkey UK Ukraine usa
British Herald

Top News in World: Read Latest News on Sports, Business, Entertainment, Blogs and Opinions from leading columnists.

CATEGORIES

  • Africa
  • Articles
  • Asia
  • Brand Feature
  • Business
  • Climate & Environment
  • Companies
  • Crypto
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Daily Roundup
  • Economics
  • ECONOMY
  • edel
  • Entertainment
  • Europe
  • Fashion
  • Finance
  • Financial Markets
  • Fintech
  • Health
  • IN UK 01
  • IN UK 02
  • Investing
  • Latin America
  • Market
  • Middle East
  • nsp
  • Oceania
  • Opinion
  • Pharma/BioTech
  • Politics
  • Reviews
  • Science & Technology
  • Sport
  • Sustainability
  • Tech
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • UK
  • Uncategorized
  • USA
  • Videos
  • World

BROWSE BY TAGS

amazon australia boris johnson brexit britain British Herald CHINA Coronavirus coronavirus cases coronavirus outbreak COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine daily roundup Donald Trump Dubai expo 2020 england European Union facebook France germany Hong Kong india iran israel italy japan joe biden lockdown London new zealand north korea Rishi Sunak russia south korea spain T20 T20 World Cup taiwan thailand trending Trump turkey UK Ukraine usa

Herald Media Network Limited (UK). 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World
    • UK
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Oceania
    • USA
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
  • Politics
  • Business
    • ECONOMY
    • Financial Markets
    • Companies
  • Sport
  • Fintech
  • Videos
  • Coffee Table Book
  • BH Magazine
  • More
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science & Technology
    • Climate & Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Food and Travel
    • Fashion
    • Culture and Lifestyle
    • Articles
    • Opinion

Herald Media Network Limited (UK). 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?