Trump lands in Malaysia to headline ASEAN summit
US President Donald Trump traveled to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit to witness the extended ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia and oversee key trade talks.
Trump’s first order of business at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit will be to monitor a ceasefire agreement reached between Cambodia and Thailand after helping broker an end to a deadly five-day border conflict in July.
The deal builds on a ceasefire signed three months ago after Trump called the two countries’ then-leaders to urge them to end hostilities or risk a suspension of trade talks with Washington.
Both sides blame each other for initiating a five-day exchange of rockets and heavy artillery that left at least 48 people dead and an estimated 300,000 temporarily displaced in the worst fighting in recent history.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul almost missed the signing ceremony after the kingdom’s Queen Mother Sirikit died on Friday, but later decided to fly to attend the ceremony.
When Trump landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, he was greeted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a troupe of ceremonial dancers.
She stopped to dance with performers on the red carpet before holding a US flag in one hand and a Malaysian flag in the other, then jumped into her limousine to head into town with Anwar.
While anti-Trump demonstrations were also held in Kuala Lumpur, some protesters were carrying banners stating that the president was not welcome in Malaysia.
While Trump meets with other leaders, US and Chinese negotiators will meet on the sidelines to prevent the trade war between the world’s two largest economies from escalating further.
Asked by a reporter whether rare earth elements were discussed in the talks that started on Saturday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said a wide range of issues were discussed, including extending the ceasefire on trade measures.
“I think we’ve gotten to the point where leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Greer said.
Trump is also expected to discuss sharp US tariffs with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is among many world leaders attending the weekend summit.
Lula said he planned to argue that Washington’s 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian goods were a “mistake,” citing a US$410 billion ($630 billion) US trade surplus with Brazil over 15 years.
Trump has signaled he is open to lowering tariffs as he heads to Asia.
East Timor, Asia’s youngest nation, became the 11th member of the ASEAN bloc on Sunday, fulfilling the vision laid out by the current president almost half a century ago when the country was a Portuguese colony.
The country of 1.4 million people, also known as Timor-Leste, is among Asia’s poorest countries and hopes to gain from integrating its fledgling economy, which at about US$2 billion ($3.1 billion) represents only a small fraction of ASEAN’s US$3.8 trillion collective gross domestic product.
East Timor’s accession comes after a 14-year wait, and although its membership is not expected to be transformative, it represents a symbolic victory for the heroes of the independence struggle, President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
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