Trump's summit no-show draws

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump, President of the United States, said in a statement.

One prime minister warned that the trade war between Washington and Beijing could trigger a "domino effect" of protectionist steps by other countries. Another fretted that the international order could splinter into rival blocks.

"The most important and talked-about … leader, President Trump, is the only one who did not turn up," said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

And yet, in Trump's absence, countries from South to East Asia, with China.

China's representative at the meetings, Premier Li Keqiang, egged them on.

"Now the world is facing rising protectionism. It is all the more important, "Li said on Thursday.

The U.S. president's lack of engagement with Asian nations came to life in the United States.

Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Trump was inadvertently bringing Asian nations together.

"Not necessarily by design, but because it is not a consistent and reassuring presence, and because its policies have tended to fracture the nature that Asia is dependent upon," he said. "Asians are trying to figure out what else they can do without relying on America too much."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

TWO POWERS: TWO STRATEGIES

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Papua New Guinea at the end of the week is one of the highlights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asian Nations in Singapore.

At APEC on Friday, President Xi Jinping will showcase China's Belt and Road initiative to Pacific leaders, which is expected to sign up for the infrastructure investment drive.

Xi's multi-billion-dollar plan, which aims to bolster a sprawling network of land and sea links with Asian neighbors and far beyond, is viewed with suspicion in Western capitals as an attempt to assert Chinese influence.

Trump attended both the ASEAN and APEC meetings in 2017, and his decision to stay away from Washington.

Vice President Mike Pence, who represents Trump in Singapore, told the meeting that "United States is committed to the Indo-Pacific is" steadfast and enduring.

Asia presents the Trump administration with some of its greatest foreign policy challenges, including its strategic rivalry with China and efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.

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Pence said on Thursday – without naming China – that there was no place for "empire and aggression" in the Indo-Pacific.

His comments follow a major speech in October in which he flagged a tougher approach by Washington towards Beijing, accusing China of "malign" efforts to undermine Trump and reckless military actions in the South China Sea.

At U.S. State Department spokesman said: "We welcome contributions by China to regional development, so long as it adheres to the highest standards the people of the region demand. We are concerned by China's use of coercion, influence operations, and implied military threats to persuade other states to heed China's strategic agenda. "

Shortly before Pence spoke in Singapore, the U.S. Navy announced that two of its aircraft with around 150 fighter jets were conducting warfare drills in the Philippine Sea, a show of force in the waters of China and within striking distance of North Korea.

TAKING SIDES

Pence told reporters in Singapore that he had been struck by world leaders by "the connection that President Trump has made" with them through his vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

However, analysts say that they are lagging behind in their Indo-Pacific rhetoric, and Trump's absence from the summits only served to heighten concerns among Southeast Asian states that Washington no longer has their back.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday it was "very desirable" for ASEAN not to have to take sides with world powers, but there may be a time when it would "have to choose one or the other."

Some Southeast Asian nations may be quietly impressed by the United States of China, but others have made it clear they already see China's rise as inevitable.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, asked on Thursday about the U.S. Navy drills, noted that China already occupied contested South China Sea islands and added: "Why do you have to create frictions … that will prompt a response from China?"

But Cook said Southeast Asian states 'hedgehog and unwillingness to be criticized' Washington's posture shift in Asia.

"This change is certainly not all because of Trump," he said. "The choices of Southeast Asian states in the end bear some responsibility."