Leaders snub US meet after Trump skips Asean summit

US-China trade war and absence of top officials let down Asian leaders

Bangkok, Nov. 4: Several Southeast Asian leaders snubbed a meeting with US officials on Monday after President Donald Trump decided not to attend a regional summit in Bangkok. Just three leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) showed up to the session, along with a host of foreign ministers. Trump has been accused of turning his back on Asian allies for pulling out of a major trade pact, as fellow superpower China pursues its own deals and investment projects in the region. Washington did not send top officials to the weekend Asean summit, instead dispatching commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and national security advisor Robert O’Brien.

Monday’s sparsely attended address from O’Brien stood in contrast to earlier Asean meetings, which had all been attended by most heads of state.

“It’s not appropriate for Asean to send leaders when the US representation is not on parity,” one diplomat in Bangkok said.

Another diplomat said: “It’s not a boycott, it’s just that other leaders have other meetings to attend to.”

In attendance were the Prime Minister of Thailand, which is hosting the summit, along with the leaders of Laos and Vietnam, next year’s Asean chair.

At other events during the summit, members have rallied against protectionism amid fears of dragging global growth made worse by the USChina trade war. Trump, who attended the 2017

Asean meeting in Singapore, could not come this year because he was busy with campaign events back home, a senior White House official said.

China’s premier and the leaders of India, South Korea and Japan all made an appearance over the weekend, although none of them were expected at Monday’s US-Asean meeting.

One of Trump’s first moves after assuming office was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive free-trade pact that was billed to be the world’s biggest before Washington pulled the plug.

The US withdrawal “was a very strong symbolic act and the trend is continuing,” said analyst Alex Holmes from Capital Economics. “It’s allowing China to advance its influence in the region,” he said.