AMONG recent guests to the White House, Donald Trump has welcomed Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Thai general who overthrew an elected government in 2014, and Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia, whom America’s Justice Department has accused of participating in the theft of as much as $3.5bn from a Malaysian government fund. Mr Trump has referred to Mr Najib as “my favourite prime minister”. Mr Trump’s presidency has coincided with a lurch towards authoritarianism around South-East Asia. Such matters seem to be far less of a concern to him, however, than they were to his predecessor, Barack Obama. For the region’s democrats, the discrepancy stings.
On his visit to Asia next week, Mr Trump will call on Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, who has boasted about killing people and has instituted a campaign against drug dealers and users that has led to perhaps 9,000 deaths. Mr Trump apparently...Continue reading
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