Asia Summit Snub Fuels Doubts About US Commitment
By Joshua Gallu and David Tweed
August 31, 2018, 4:48 PM EDT
Updated on September 1, 2018, 1:47 PM EDT
President Donald Trump will skip two major summits in Asia in November, a move that could stoke concerns in the region about the U.S.’s reliability as a counterweight to China.
The White House said Friday that Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Singapore for an 18-nation summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, before heading to Papua New Guinea for an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering. The APEC summit is normally attended by 21 leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The decision removes one potential avenue for Trump to meet with Xi as a trade war between the U.S. and China deepens. The U.S. is leaning toward a fresh round of tariffs against Chinese imports, this time for $200 billion in goods, in what would mark a significant escalation. Xi and Trump are expected to attend the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later in November, though.
Trump’s absence is also likely to fuel concerns among Asian leaders who want the U.S. 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 fast-growing region, after Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and questioned the cost of security alliances with Japan and South Korea ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-31/trump-to-skip-asia-summits-as-doubts-over-u-s-commitment-linger
