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What does Donald Trump’s East Asia Summit absence mean for China’s regional influence?
- Observers believe the president’s absence reflects his disdain for long-distance trips that do not culminate in blockbuster deals
- Southeast Asian countries have sought to keep the US engaged as a means to counter China’s increasing strategic assertions
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Washington’s decision to send a scaled-back delegation to next week’s East Asia Summit in Thailand has been met with little surprise in the region, with observers believing the move reflects President Donald Trump’s disdain for long-distance trips that do not culminate in blockbuster deals that earn him bragging rights at home.
In an announcement late on Tuesday, the White House said national security adviser Robert O’Brien would lead a delegation to the November 3-4 forum in Bangkok alongside commerce secretary Wilbur Ross.
Ross and O’Brien, while key players of Trump’s cabinet, are the lowest-ranking American officials to lead the US delegation since the Western superpower formally joined the East Asia Summit in 2011.
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A Southeast Asian diplomat based in the Thai capital told This Week in Asia the absence of Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo was expected by most of the forum’s participants – the 10 Asean countries and the bloc’s eight key trading partners – given the White House’s radio silence until days before the summit.
President Trump’s real preference for long travel … is that some kind of a deal must be in the making
The diplomat said the United States’ weakened presence at the summit was likely to be quietly welcomed by China, whose clout in regional forums has steadily increased over the years.
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