Is Donald Trump’s no-show at Asia summits a sign of waning US influence in region?
- If Asia matters to America, why was US president not present at East Asian Summit, asks Singaporean diplomat
- Other observers point out that Chinese President Xi Jinping also skipped the event, in what some Southeast Asian countries see as a snub
US President Donald Trump’s absence from two high profile Asian summits has raised questions as to America’s right to be a leader in the region, but analysts remain uncertain on whether China is ready to supplant it.
“If Asia matters to America, why is your leader President Trump not here?” Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh asked his American counterparts of the US leader’s decision to skip the East Asian Summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Papua New Guinea.
US Vice-President Mike Pence is representing America at the two events.
“To Asians, turning up for a meeting is significant,” Koh, a lawyer and ambassador-at-large at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at an event on Wednesday in the city state.
Koh said also that many of his counterparts in Southeast Asia were uneasy about the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy, whose primary aim was to contain China.
“Is it intended to exclude countries in the region which are not democratic?” he asked. “Is the strategic intent of this concept targeted at excluding China from the family? If so we are not comfortable.”
While Koh said he was speaking in a personal capacity and that his views did not represent those of the Singaporean government, his concerns resonated throughout the region at a time of uncertainty regarding a shifting world order and struggles between major powers.