US President Donald Trump is to skip two major summits in Asia in November, a move that could stoke concerns in the region about the US’ reliability as a counterweight to China.
The White House on Friday said that US Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Singapore for an 18-member ASEAN summit, before heading to Papua New Guinea for an APEC gathering.
The APEC summit is normally attended by 21 leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Photo: Reuters
The decision removes one potential avenue for Trump to meet with Xi as a trade war between the US and China deepens. Both leaders are expected to attend the G20 summit in Argentina later in November.
Trump’s absence is also likely to fuel concerns among Asian leaders who want the US to push back against China’s increasing economic and military might.
Trump administration officials have been promoting a new “Indo-Pacific” strategy to bolster its commitment to the region, after Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and questioned the cost of security alliances with Japan and South Korea.
“His absence would doubtlessly solidify the impression that America has essentially abandoned its traditional presence in the Asia-Pacific, not to mention the non-starter Indo-Pacific,” said Oh Ei Sun (胡逸山), a senior adviser for international affairs at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur.
Without Trump, Xi would have more space to advocate Chinese trade and development projects, such as his ambitious Belt and Road Initiative.
Xi was the first leader to confirm his attendance to the APEC meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where he also plans to host his own summit with Pacific leaders.
Although US leaders have attended the events over the past few years, missing them is not unprecedented.
In 2007, then-US president George W. Bush drew flak for rescheduling a planned meeting with ASEAN leaders in Singapore. Former US president Barack Obama, whose administration announced a pivot in military and diplomatic resources to Asia, in 2013 skipped APEC to handle a government shutdown.
Newly installed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a trip to Jakarta yesterday told reporters that Trump’s decision to tend to matters at home was understandable and Pence “speaks with the authority of the [US] president.”
The Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Pence’s visit to the city-state, adding in a statement that it would be his first as US vice president.
The Asian summits come days after midterm US Congressional elections, which could determine Trump’s ability to withstand investigations into Russian campaign interference and election-season payments to alleged mistresses.
While US Democratic Party leaders have largely avoided talking about impeaching Trump, Republican losses in the US House of Representatives or Senate would greatly increase the risk of congressional action.
Collin Koh Swee Lean (高瑞連), a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that efforts by US officials in the region should help offset Trump’s absence.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo at an ASEAN meeting last month announced US$300 million in regional security funding and the US military is among nine nations participating in the ongoing annual Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training exercises in Singapore.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS