Trump shadow looms large as PM scales regional summits
The Prime Minister is preparing for a week of quiet diplomacy as he attends two important international summits where Donald Trump’s tariffs and China’s growing influence in the Pacific will be front and center on the minds of many world leaders.
Anthony Albanese will meet with some of his counterparts at the ASEAN and APEC summits to be held in South Korea and Malaysia respectively in the coming days.
Mr. Trump is expected to attend both meetings.
The president plans to sign a trade agreement with the Malaysian prime minister, preside over a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand and sit down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
He is expected to speak informally to Mr Albanese following a successful face-to-face meeting at the White House earlier this week, which included the signing of a major critical minerals deal.
Former Australian trade official Pru Gordon said Mr Trump’s shadow was playing a big role over the hearings as countries tried to negotiate more favorable treatment after facing US tariffs.
Director general of the Australian International Trade and Investment Centre, Dr. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves early because he’s going to get a polite beating on the ears (from the other leaders),” Gordon said.
But outside of the U.S.-China relationship, where tariffs and the ensuing trade war have caused a significant drop in sales, other nations have found ways to get around American tariffs, he said.
“The World Trade Organization has 166 members. Of these, 165 continue to trade with each other as before,” Dr Gordon said.
With the Trump-Xi meeting thrust into the spotlight, southeast Asian leaders will try to avoid aligning themselves too closely with either power, said John Blaxland, an international security expert at the Australian National University.
Professor Blaxland said countries that were generally supportive of China, such as Cambodia and Laos, were still open to working with Australia behind the scenes.
“They all want to be mindful of their own Ps and Qs and work closely with partners like Australia, but not make a big fuss about it,” he told AAP.
Prof Blaxland said diplomatic harmony in the region was not black and white.
“The great power game continues. But this does not mean that we should stop being constructive in our relations with our neighbors,” he said.
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