Is the Trump-Xi meeting in S. Korea headed for a K-drama moment?

Both leaders facing pressure in their countries to come out of the summit showing progress

- Bhagyashree Garekar US Bureau Chief

(PHOTO: AFP)

Will the off-again, on-again meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, scheduled to take place on Oct 30 in Busan, result in a thaw between the world’s largest economies?

Or will the trade war take a turn for the worse? There are no easy answers to those questions, because the plot in this live-wire drama is anything but formulaic.

It is full of twists and turns, and the dependable happy ending in the average Korean drama is not guaranteed.

Not in any doubt, however, is the instinct of US President Trump to create drama. The real estate mogul turned TV entertainer turned president, by his own account, is ever on the hunt for a deal. All his actions are guided by that imperative.

The latest evidence is his decision, announced on Oct 23 through his social media channel, to terminate all pending trade negotiations with Canada. The provocation was an ad against US tariffs featuring the iconic Republican president Ronald Reagan, run by a Canadian state.

A sense of foreboding over the Busan meeting is par for the course, but given Mr Trump’s calibrated approach to China, replete with declamations of admiration and respect for President Xi, the summit should at least begin cordially.

The atmosphere will at least partly be owing to the preparatory bilateral meetings under way in Kuala Lumpur, led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng. If the teams close well, the presidents will open the Busan meeting well.

For all his tactical unpredictability, Mr Trump seems to be dealing the weaker hand. His threat to stack on 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods from Nov 1, on top of the 57 per cent that apply now, does not seem to have rattled Mr Xi.