As Trump embarks on Asia tour, world awaits outcome from Xi talks, and if he indeed will meet Kim again

New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS) United States President Donald Trump’s current visit to three Asian destinations will be followed by the global community with a mixed bag of expectations. The five-day trip begins with Malaysia, where the President is expected to land on Sunday morning for the AESAN Summit, followed by visits to Japan and South Korea.

But the highlight of his visit may be marked with a face-to-face meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, amidst the ongoing trade tariff tensions. And during that last leg of his trip – though not part of the official schedule – if he does meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as he did in his earlier term, that will hog international headlines over the rest.

The earlier encounters, which included three summit meetings between 2018 and 2019, plus high-profile public gestures, had turned into much-talked international events. The most vivid example remains their impromptu June 30, 2019, meeting at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) in Panmunjom. After what seemed a brief moment of hesitation, where Trump asked if he could step across the demarcating line, the US President did cross a few steps onto North Korean soil. That made Trump the first sitting US President to set foot on North Korean territory.

The world watched, Trump joked and bantered with Kim, while media coverage emphasised the optics. The handshake and the gesture of walking across the border was taken as evidence of a personal rapport that could break long-standing diplomatic logjams.

Meanwhile, according to South Korea’s unification minister Chung Dong-young, Trump and Kim should make a "bold decision" to meet face-to-face again, said reports. The US President himself told reporters onboard Air Force One as he departed for the visit that he was “open to it” (meeting the North Korean leader), adding that he "had a great relationship" with Kim.

Media reports late last month quoted the North Korean leader saying that he has “good personal memories” of Trump from their meetings and there is “no reason” to not resume dialogues. But he did have a rider, that the US needs to abandon its “delusional obsession with denuclearisation".

Again, in South Korea, Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping is scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the APEC meetings. Their current dynamic is shaped by the tariff threats from Washington and Beijing’s retaliatory moves on export controls for critical inputs such as rare-earth elements.

Both sides have reasons to de-escalate — economic slowdown risks, domestic political calendars, and the global costs of supply-chain disruption — yet both also see leverage in holding firm, making outcomes fragile and incremental. Their meeting can produce useful short-term relief for markets and tactical concessions on high-priority items, but durable peace in the economic sphere will require follow-through through enforceable agreements, technical working groups, and domestic political buy-in on both sides.

While the last leg of his tour at the end of this month may witness the high-profile encounters, Trump may likely also showcase new trade deals, push for credit for negotiating peace between Thailand and Cambodia, and show that Washington still has sway in Southeast Asia, a region where Beijing has growing clout. He hopes to sign a trade agreement with Malaysia and witness a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia that he has personally taken credit for brokering.

In Japan, Trump will hold formal bilateral talks, economic and security discussions, and meet business delegations to press trade and investment objectives.

--IANS

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