FOR those concerned about American neglect of Asia, it is an accomplishment of sorts that Donald Trump is coming to the region at all. A creature of habit, America’s president is uncomfortable spending nights away from his own bed. And now, with the first indictments in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the election that put Mr Trump in office, foreign policy is likely to have fallen even lower down his list of priorities. Yet on November 3rd Mr Trump begins a 12-day trip, his longest foreign excursion as president and his first to Asia. He will take in (via Hawaii) Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The first rule in Asian politics, where form trumps content, is just showing up. So far, so promising. What is more, although one of Mr Trump’s first moves as president was to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-country free-trade deal—“the greatest self-inflicted wound on American regional influence since the Vietnam...Continue reading
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