Region braces for Trump’s 12- day tour
BEIJING— Donald Trump vowed a more “unpredictable” foreign policy when he campaigned for president. Mission accomplished, if the mood in Asia ahead of his first presidential trip to the region is any indication.
Much like the prelude to a bruising typhoon, Trump’s upcoming 12day tour has inspired fear, resignation, indignation and morbid curiosity.
During his first months as president, Trump, who will visit Japan, South Korea and China before attending regional summits in Vietnam and the Philippines, has blended moments of flattery with vows to rip up trade deals, destroy a sovereign nation with nuclear weapons and generally crash long- standing norms of diplomacy anywhere it suits his aims.
He has wined and dined the leaders of China and Japan, and been fawned over in return, and his shaky ties with South Korea President Moon Jae- in have led to worries that Washington could take military action against North Korea without Seoul’s approval.
A look at some of the issues and leaders Trump will face during his trip, which begins in Japan on Sunday:
North Korea: Trump’s quarrel with the North’s ruler will dominate the trip. Amid nuclear and missile tests and a standard barrage of belligerent rhetoric, Trump has veered from threats to unleash “fire and fury” on the North to calling Kim a “pretty smart cookie” and saying he’d be “honored” to talk, under the right circumstances. Trump’s comments have caused both confusion and fears of war. South Korea: South Koreans have long fretted about being pushed out of efforts to deal with the North. And Trump has suggested that Seoul should pay the entire cost of a U. S. missile defense system in the South that many there don’t even want. China relations: Some experts say Trump has been good for the ruling Chinese Communist Party, because he has raised global doubts about Washington. Trump, for instance, pulled the United States out of the Trans- Pacific Partnership, a trade deal Obama negotiated with 11 countries around the Pacific Rim.
Japan fear: There has been worry in Tokyo about Trump’s tough talk on trade as well as the possibility that military action by the United States against North Korea could endanger Japan.