Asia loses faith in America as Mattis fails to ease Trump angst
The first question asked of U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis at a Singapore security conference this weekend began just by thanking him for taking the job. It was a compliment meant for Mattis, but not his boss.
President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, perceived disinterest in alliances and above all unpredictability were overwhelming topics of concern at the annual Shangri-La meeting of defense ministers and other security officials and analysts from a total of 48 countries, which ended on Sunday.
On stage, the focus was on the need to protect the “rulesbased international order” from China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, and the rising threat from international terrorism. References to Trump tended to be diplomatic.
“In this brave new world, we cannot rely on great powers to safeguard our interests,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a speech to open the three-day event. The comment, though coming in an upbeat speech, echoed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s warning last week that Europe must go it alone.
Trump’s decisions to pull out the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact demonstrate an approach that is unraveling the U.S.’s “great creative act” after World War II — a system of international rules and alliances that would be difficult if not impossible to restore — said Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which organized the conference.
Off-stage, there was concern too over what Trump’s “America First” policies might mean for stability in a region grappling with the rapid rise of China.
“To us, Trump means risk,” said Wen-cheng Lin, director of the Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, as he listened to a panel of defense ministers talk about regional threats. Taiwan — claimed by China as part of its territory — is heavily dependent on U.S. defense guarantees.
“We no longer know if we can trust the U.S.,” he said, citing the TPP decision, as much as he appreciated Mattis’ strong message of reassurance to allies in Europe.