Rob York

Opinion | On the contrary, the Trump years have strengthened US-led international liberalism

US policy on China and Taiwan is now much clearer, Quad allies have drawn closer, the Korean peninsula status quo has been vindicated – and John Bolton has been politically neutered

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in Tokyo on October 6. Indo-Pacific democracies have strengthened their cooperation, with Quad members coordinating more naval exercises as well as their pandemic responses. Photo: AP/Bloomberg

Rob York

Published: 4:15am, 27 Nov 2020Updated: 4:40am, 27 Nov 2020

The United States election results four years ago caused no shortage of consternation for those who believe strongly in a US-led liberal international order.

That international order has certainly been stressed in recent years but has not crumbled in the wake of the Trump presidency. If we are being honest, there are a few ways in which the events of the past four years, both directly and indirectly due to the Trump administration, have ultimately benefited US-led international liberalism.

Here are five of them.

First, there is much less ambiguity over China. Before Trump, American policymakers had been caught in a strange limbo, as though too much work had been invested since the late 1970s in ensuring that Beijing was a partner, to start treating it as a rival. The Obama administration in particular struggled with this, as suggested by its search for the right word – “pivot” or “rebalance” – to articulate its emphasis on Asia.

But along comes a populist businessman-turned-president who believes strongly in tariffs and stacks his cabinet with China hawks, and that strategic ambiguity goes out of the window. China is now a “strategic competitor” and policymakers can adjust accordingly: criticism of China now enjoys bipartisan support and will not change after Trump leaves the office.

Second, Taiwan is no longer on the outs. For decades in the US, support for Taiwan was the love that dare not speak its name. As a consequence of the previously mentioned partnership with Beijing, Taiwan’s existence became an inconvenience to Washington – the liberal democracy in Asia we would rather not talk about.