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Donald Trump's 12-day tour might go down in history as being the last attempt to master the shifting of power in Asia. What is clear is that Washington has no clue, writes DW's Frank Sieren.

His speeches were contorted in each of the countries that he visited. In some parts of Asia, he has earned himself the nickname of the Mr Bean of global politics.

Trump's involuntary comic side came out even in his more serious speeches. It was clear even when he was talking to the South Korean parliament and to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that the US had little of substance to offer the Indo-Pacific, as Washington has begun calling the Asia-Pacific region in order to include India as a strategic partner against China and its ever-increasing power.

Xi Jinping has money and a plan

But this seems to be more hope than reality. Trump does not have money. His army is controversial. US values have long been discredited and Trump's charisma does not have a universal impact. Even if Trump means well, which he surely did in Asia, the odds are against him. Chinese President Xi Jinping has money and a plan. He might have less charisma and is more pragmatic when it comes to values, but he is successful. The New Silk Road is only one of China's many impressive projects.

It did not help that Trump called on Asian states to put their own interests at the forefront, a la "America First" during his campaign. He said that the multilateral TPP free trade agreement was a job-killing disaster for the US and effectively ended it on his first day in office. His predecessor Barack Obama had seen the TPP as a chance for the US economy but also as a counterweight to China, which was not invited to join. Now the rest of Asia has decided to shrug its shoulders and cosy up to China after all. It must come as little comfort to the US to know that the remaining 11 TPP states, including Japan and Australia, still want to work on a free trade agreement even without Washington.

Even traditional partners looking toward Beijing

The systemic struggle for "Western values" and "democracy" no longer makes sense if Washington wants to gain respect. Even traditional partners of the US such as Thailand and the Philippines have now taken Beijing's centralizing government model as an example. They still want to work with the US but will not join forces against China. On the contrary. Apart from North Korea, "a hell that no person deserves," to quote Trump himself, there was hardly any mention of human rights in the traditional Western sense during the president's Asia trip.

Much More: http://www.dw.com/en/sierens-china-mr-bean-goes-to-asia/a-41416101




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