THINKING BEYOND POLITICS

The Trump administration could not simply shift focus away from Asia.

The Trump administration’s early moves in East Asia unsettled America’s allies and friends. First, President Trump immediately announced the US withdrawal from the TPP. Second, the new Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in his testimony to the US Congress, declared that the Trump Administration would not repeat the Obama administration’s term of “rebalancing” or pivoting to Asia because it implied that the US was turning away from its defense obligations in other parts of the world. This and his tirades against multilateral trade arrangements generated an apprehension in East and Southeast Asia, that Trump will ignore the region.

However, current developments show that the Trump administration could not simply shift focus away from Asia.

Early on, they realized that prudence in the conduct of US foreign policy in East Asia requires taking into account the broad trends of Asia’s economic dynamism, China’s rising power, and its predecessor’s rebalancing strategy in grappling with emerging regional security challenges.

President Trump found it necessary to reinvigorate engagements in the Asia Pacific to fulfill his campaign promise to “Make America Great Again.”

Possessing the most powerful navy and as the leading maritime trading nation, the US has maintained a significant economic, diplomatic, and strategic presence in the region since the end of the Second World War. Reassessing American security interests and engagement in East Asia — including some inherited policies from the Obama administration, key White House officials have realized that the Asia Pacific had become “a key driver of global politics” and “the rebalancing is a means for a sustained and coherent US long-term strategy toward the region.” This requires continuing assertion of America’s leadership role in Asia and projecting its naval power to counter-balance China’s pervasive regional influence.

MAINTAINING THE FOCUS ON ASIA

In early 2017, President Trump and key officials sent a consistent message that US commitment to America’s Asian allies, especially to the defense of South Korea and Japan, is as solid as ever.

In April, President Trump invited the leaders of three ASEAN member states — Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines to the White House to muster support against the North Korean nuclear arms program. Secretary Mattis and Vice-President Mike Pen conveyed two messages to allies and competitors in the region — the US stands firm against North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling and China’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea; and that despite President Trump’s rhetoric about America’s First Policy, this administration will not turn away from American security commitments in Asia.