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Anthony Rowley

Political leaders like to perform on the global stage and there is no greater “performer” in this regard than US President Donald Trump, who has just been swinging across Asia, doing deals while posing as the best buddy of every national leader he met.
That kind of showmanship may impress people at home and possibly win more political support, but it hijacks the need for genuine diplomacy and international cooperation in both an economic and political sense.
Two cases in point are the most recent summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in South Korea. These organisations and the meetings they hold are supposed to be concerned primarily with regional cooperation and integration. Instead, they became platforms for great power politics.
Such gatherings, ostensibly meant to prioritise matters of common interest, are ultimately eclipsed when they become the setting for leaders seeking to resolve bilateral disputes between nations that are not even members of the group in some cases.
Trump, for example, stole the limelight at the Apec summit through his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He also effectively claimed credit for a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia during his attendance at the Asean summit. Similarly, his meeting with new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, heralding a new “golden age” of bilateral ties, hogged the headlines between the Asean and Apec meetings.
There are issues of critical importance, such as the impact of US tariffs on regional trade, inflated asset prices which threaten a financial crisis, rapidly ageing populations, the so-called middle-income trap and climate change, among other issues, which members of both regional organisations must contend with during summits.

However, all the hard work undertaken by politicians and bureaucrats in individual Asean or Apec nations in preparation for the summits ends up being overshadowed by the posturing of great powers. Trump’s tariff tantrums have done this to a perhaps unprecedented extent.
Trump is undoubtedly skilled in generating publicity around the “art of the deal”, a personal manifesto of the American president, inspired by his book of the same name. He imposes penalties, whether tariffs or sanctions, on other countries and then declares victory by partially rolling them back in return for favours from the countries he is targeting.
As economist Richard Katz observed during a recent panel discussion in Tokyo, Trump scares nations by threatening to amputate both legs – and then only cuts off one.
The implied message in this kind of behaviour is that bullying pays off, that “might is right”, whereas Asian leaders ought to instead condemn US protectionism under Trump while focusing on reinforcing their own regional solidarity and the need to reduce economic dependence on the United States.
There was a relative paucity of economic substance at both the Asean and Apec meetings and even moments of progress were cast into the shadows by the blaze of publicity given to great-power posturing by the leaders and diplomats who attended, notably Trump. While Xi didn’t make it to Kuala Lumpur, he has been a prominent presence in Gyeongju. Moreover, a Russian delegation was present at both summits.

As respective hosts of the two international gatherings, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung also added to the star line-up at the events and arguably helped distract attention from the business emphasis needed as their countries face economic challenges of one kind or another.
It may be coincidental that these exchanges among great powers took place on the so-called “sidelines” of the Asean and Apec meetings, but this is highly unlikely. The fact is that they provide organisational infrastructure, largely paid for by the host nations, while also providing diplomatic cover for semi-official encounters.
They do not involve formal agreements or treaty obligations between leaders, which are necessary for true and lasting cooperation. By piggybacking on meetings of regional organisations, the leaders of great powers are able to freely make promises in ways that do not match commitments made within the institutional framework of Asean, Apec or other such groupings.

Top-down summit diplomacy has its place, of course, but it should not be conducted at the expense of regional business. If Trump wants to gain popularity beyond the borders of the US, he should ensure that his foreign policy does not interfere with or overshadow the routine business of regional organisations, for which he displays only minimal respect at best.
The same criticism might be levelled against political leaders of other great powers such as China and Japan. However, their international agenda is set to some extent by the timing of Trump’s appearance at key summits. They may well feel duty bound to turn up at the same time to preserve credibility or “save face”.
Leaders of great powers should not be allowed to turn their backs on globalisation and multilateralism on one hand, while using global or regional multilateral organisations as platforms to attract attention to their own interests and agendas on the other. They should either commit entirely to international cooperation or cease using what remains of it to suit their own ends.


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To Trump, Asean and Apec are simply platforms for his own agenda

US President Donald Trump speaks to President Xi Jinping at a reception hall inside an air force base in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: EPA

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (centre) chats to East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao during a summit between Japan and Asean in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26. Photo: Kyodo

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right) shares a warm moment with Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan during a press conference after the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, on October 28. Photo: EPA 

People welcome President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, as the Chinese leader arrives to attend the 32nd Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting and pay a state visit to the country at the invitation of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. Photo: Xinhua

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Illustration: Craig Stephens

From the left, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, US President Donald Trump, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet mingle during the Asean Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia, on October 26. Photo: EPA / Pool

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a bilateral meeting between Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26. Photo: Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) walks with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as he arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to attend the Asean Summit in Malaysia, on October 27. Photo: Pool Photo via AP

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Firefighters work at a destroyed residential building after a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 26. Photo: AP

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US President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One en route to Washington at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on October 19. Photo: Reuters

The logo of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is pictured on Thursday, ahead of the 47th Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur which begins on Sunday. Photo: AFP

A combination photo shows Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and his US counterpart Donald Trump. Photo: AFP

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said he wants to present Asean as a single, unified market. Photo: AP

Vehicles drive past the Prince International Plaza in Phnom Penh on October 15. The US has charged the founder of Cambodian business empire Prince Group with running a sprawling cryptocurrency scam run from forced labour camps. Photo: AFP

East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta delivers a speech during a visit at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, in August. East Timor will become Asean’s newest member on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

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US President Donald Trump is pictured next to Malaysian national flags before he departs on Air Force One from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on October 27. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump looks on next to people waving Malaysian national flags before he departs on Air Force One from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on October 27. Photo: AFP

Did Asean members get short-changed by Trump on trade deals with ‘strings attached’?

US President Donald Trump and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hold signed documents during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump signed deals on rare earths with Thailand and Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: Shutterstock

US President Donald Trump reacts to dancing performers during a welcoming ceremony after arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to attend the Asean summit on Sunday. Photo: AP

Opinion

World Opinion

Asia Opinion

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World

Economy, Trade & Business

China

Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia

Economy

Policy

Leaders of superpowers should not use regional multilateral summits to advance their own interests, overshadowing the vital work of other nations


Leaders of superpowers should not use regional multilateral summits to advance their own interests, overshadowing the vital work of other nations.


Asean

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)

Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s China policy

Xi Jinping

Lee Jae Myung

Anwar Ibrahim

Sanae Takaichi

South Korea

Malaysia

Japan

United States

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Macroscope

To Trump, Asean and Apec are simply platforms for his own agenda

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Leaders of superpowers should not use regional multilateral summits to advance their own interests, overshadowing the vital work of other nations

Leaders of superpowers should not use regional multilateral summits to advance their own interests, overshadowing the vital work of other nations