During his Asia trip, can Trump assuage doubts about America’s leading role in the region?

Derwin Pereira says the US president should not let the North Korean nuclear stand-off dominate his agenda in Asia, and instead engage leaders on shared strategic concerns, singly and through forums such as Asean and Apec

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There is a danger that Pyongyang will overshadow Donald Trump’s entire Asia trip. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Published: 12:03pm, 29 Oct 2017Updated: 6:25pm, 29 Oct 2017

US President Donald Trump’s first visit to Asia early next month is an opportunity for him to reset American relations with the region.

It is an ambitious trip. He will stop in Japan and South Korea, two US allies, and China, by far the most important Asian country for Washington. In Da Nang, Vietnam, he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and in Manila, he will attend a gala dinner to mark Asean’s 50th anniversary. Taken together, these destinations and occasions are a cartographic representation of key US interests in Asia. The question is how Trump will use his visit to underline American commitment to the region.

Can Trump secure America’s place in Asia on his trip to the region?

Asians will ask for different things from him. For South Korea, the agenda is assured. North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocation has risen so high on the radar of American patience that the danger is not that Trump will do too little on that front but perhaps too much. There is a danger that Pyongyang will overshadow his entire Asia trip.

Indeed, his stance on North Korea will be welcomed in Japan as well, since it lies in the immediate path of Pyongyang’s missile tests. It would not be going too far to say that Tokyo would benefit from a public declaration of Washington’s strategic bottom line as much as Seoul would.

As for China, it finds itself sandwiched between American insecurity vis-à-vis the North Koreans, and its own balance-of-power compulsions with Washington. America knows that there is a limit to Beijing’s ability to influence Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programme. For North Korea, that programme is key to its regime’s survival. On this issue, it will not heed China’s constraining voice any more than it will be swayed by America’s threats.

A picture of North Korea’s Kim Il-sung and Chinese leader Mao Zedong is seen in 2013 on a bridge linking North Korea with China, in the Chinese border town of Hekou. Beijing’s ability to influence Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programme is limited. Photo: AP