To answer this question and to asses Trump’s East Asia tour, first of all, the main goals of this visit must be enumerated on the basis of what has been announced by official sources in the United States. Trump’s National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster had noted before the US president’s trip started that Trump’s visit to East Asian nations pursued three main goals: 

- To bolster and strengthen international mechanisms aimed at facilitating nuclear disarmament of North Korea;

- To help further advancement and progress of India and Oceania region; and

- To boost the welfare state of Americans through conclusion of bilateral trade and economic deals and agreements.

The first of Trump’s goals in his East Asia tour was apparently to address the crisis surrounding North Korea. The US government has so far tried in cooperation with its regional allies and through convincing China to make North Korea sit at the negotiating table aimed at nuclear disarmament of that country. During his visit to Japan, Trump met and conferred with the country’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. During bilateral negotiations in Tokyo, Trump not only defended conclusion of an agreement for selling military equipment, including missile defense systems, to this country in order to thwart Pyongyang’s ballistic missile threat, but also declared his decision to mount pressures on North Korea. He clearly announced that the aforesaid agreement would bolster the security of Japan and the economy of the United States at the same time. 

During his visit to China, Washington and Beijing reached an agreement on taking necessary measures to stop what they called provocative measures taken by North Korea. However, as it was expected, the two sides remained apart on their position with regard to a possible step to be taken against North Korea. During his trip to China, Trump emphasized the role that China could play to get North Korea to the negotiating table. He stressed that if China took serious measures in this regard, including by cutting banking relations with North Korea, nuclear disarmament of North Korea would be facilitated. 

Trump’s second goal, as said before, was to make sure about further progress and prosperity of India and Oceania. It seems that the use of the term “India-Oceania” by the national security advisor of the White House and the content of Trump’s address to the summit meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Vietnam  just a few hours after his visit to China, were signs of the beginning of a new round of efforts made to build new coalitions and forge balance in the face of the rising power of China in the East Asia region. It must be noted that a trip to New Delhi was not part of Trump’s itinerary. However, a previous visit to India by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis last September and the signing of arms deals between the two sides indicated that India would continue to play a key role in building new coalitions during the forthcoming years.

The point, which must not be forgotten here, is that during the past two decades, especially following the end of the Cold War, the United States’ Asian policy has been constantly influenced by its relations with the biggest East Asian regional power; that is, China. Therefore, the attitude of American politicians toward China has been always a combination of cooperation and rivalry with this country in various fields.

According to the US politicians, China can be a good strategic partner for the United States, on the one hand, and take sides with Washington as a responsible international power. On the other hand, China can turn into a potential rival for the United States due to its high economic growth rate, its ambitious plans in the South China Sea as well as its effort to renovate and bolster Chinese armed forces. Such a powerful rival can pose a serious challenge to the US hegemony in the international system and also threaten its alliances and coalitions in East Asia.

At the present time, the US administration and its president have been pursuing a two-tier approach through Trump’s recent visit to China. One the one hand, recognition of China’s role in settling the crisis over North Korea and conclusion of agreements to promote security, trade and economic cooperation with Beijing has been a major goal of Trump’s visit to this country. On the other hand, the United States seeks to create balance of power against China through its regional allies such as India and Japan with main focus being on such issues as freedom of marine transportation lines and shipping through the South China Sea.

The third among Trump’s major goals in his East Asia tour was to boost the welfare state of Americans through conclusion of bilateral trade and economic agreements with countries in this region. It must not be forgotten that both during his election campaign and after victory in the US presidential race, Trump had mounted severe verbal attacks against multilateral defense and economic agreements. The main target of Trump’s verbal attacks at that time was the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has twelve countries in the Asia-Pacific region as its members. In one of his first major steps, Trump took the United States out of this multilateral treaty in January 2017. From the viewpoint of Trump and the United States’ governmental politicians, the national interests of the United States, both in political and military terms and in terms of trade and economic activities, cannot be met through multilateral agreements, but can be best pursued and followed up on through bilateral and mutual agreements.

There are certain examples to be mentioned in this regard. During his visit to Japan and talks with the country’s prime minister, Trump defended the two countries’ agreement for selling arms to Japan. In a bid to justify this measure, Trump said selling arms to Japan would not only boost the East Asian country’s security in the face of regional challenges, but would also prop up the American economy as well. Therefore, it seems that although the current US administration disdains multilateral agreements and even considers them to be against the national interests of the United States, it will continue to conclude bilateral defense, security and economic agreements with the allied states.

In his trip to China, despite the United States’ severe criticism of China’s economic and trade policies, the two countries signed an agreement worth 250 billion dollars to boost cooperation in such areas as energy and aviation. By taking this step, Trump proved that pragmatic measures in foreign policy even toward traditional rivals of the United States, including China, can meet the national interests of the United States in the best possible manner. The main justification given is that involvement of Chinese companies and investors in the US projects will revive this country’s economy and create new jobs and will even make the exiting balance of trade, which Americans consider to be in favor of China, more equitable.

 

Conclusion

On the whole, one may say that the Asian policy of the United States during Trump’s trip to East Asia was a function of the country’s main foreign policy agenda whose top motto is “America first.” This policy has an economic and mercantilist nature and has been formulated with the ultimate goal of reviving the country’s economy. In fact, it must be noted that the strategy adopted by the former US administration for looking to the East has continued under the new administration over the past year. This is a multifaceted strategy according to which the United States is trying to maintain a close relationship with China, as an effective and responsible international power. At the same time, Washington is endeavoring to pursue balance of power in the face of Beijing’s rising power through conclusion of bilateral security agreements with its allies and also through establishment of regional alliances.

 

Endnotes