Opinion | How no-show Donald Trump allows China to advance its influence in the Asia-Pacific

Trump’s blunders in the region, including his continued absence from the East Asia Summit, damage US strategic credibility and make it harder for smaller states to resist China’s influence. All China has to do, basically, is show up

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US President Donald Trump waves goodbye before entering Air Force One to leave Manila, in the Philippines, just hours before the East Asia Summit he had been expected to attend, on November 14, 2017. Analysts see this as a key moment in the decline of US influence in the Asia-Pacific. Photo: AP

Published: 1:00am, 2 Nov 2019Updated: 3:27am, 2 Nov 2019

At the 2010 Asean ministerial conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, Yang Jiechi, then China’s foreign minister, rebuffed Hillary Clinton’s calls to prioritise sovereignty as “virtually an attack on China”, adding later that, “China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that's just a fact.” Sovereign equality was subdued to imperial primacy.

Clinton, then secretary of state, was probably content with Yang’s emotional burst and the summit’s outcome. China’s assertive behaviour and lack of diplomatic tact would alienate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. America was ready to be invited back in the region to lead and safeguard the security of its allies or even attract new ones such as Vietnam and Myanmar. The US’ signature foreign policy doctrine – the pivot to Asia – seemed on solid footing.

How much the region has changed since. As 18 regional heads of state prepare for next week’s East Asia Summit in Thailand, America’s strategic credibility has faltered while China has advanced its regional influence significantly.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping will be occupied at the Shanghai Expo, Premier Li Keqiang will attend this year’s summit while Donald Trump will be absent yet again. Unlike former US president Barack Obama, who attended five out of six East Asia Summits, his successor has attended none.

Just three days into his term, Trump shocked Asian leaders by cancelling the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade deal aimed at limiting China’s commercial outreach and encouraging pro-market reform in Beijing.