As Trump and Xi get set to talk trade, Asia worries about impact on its security

Some Asian countries fear a ‘grand bargain’ with Xi on economic issues could sideline security

- Michael R. Gordon & Joyu Wang

resident Trump put the world on notice in his first term that the U.S. was preparing for an era of intensified military and economic competition with Beijing.

But as he left for his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House, striking a new trade deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping has moved to the top of Trump’s agenda, spurring apprehensions among allies that the dealmaking might come at their expense.

“Asian allies are experiencing strategic whiplash,” said Craig Singleton, a former U.S. diplomat who directs the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Their central concern now is whether Trump's transactional instincts could lead to a grand bargain with Xi, especially one that sidelines Taiwan or dilutes allied leverage.”

Trump’s blitz through Asia begins Sunday in Malaysia at a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders, where the U.S. president plans to preside over the signing of a peace deal to settle the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, U.S. officials say.

Then it is on to Japan, where Trump will meet with Sanae Takaichi, the country’s new prime minister, who advocates close ties with the US. and a stronger Japanese military. Takaichi vowed Friday to boost military spending to 2% of gross domestic product two years ahead of schedule, a move that will sweeten the atmosphere for Trump’s visit. But she lacks the established rapport that Shinzo Abe—Japan’s longstanding prime minister, who was assassinated after leaving office—enjoyed with Trump.

Trump’s third stop is South Korea, where he will meet President Lee Jae Myung and participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. While Trump has said that he is open to meeting at some point with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior U.S. official told reporters Friday that it isn’t on the schedule for this trip.

But Trump has cast his Thursday morning meeting with Xi in South Korea as the acid test of his Asia trip.