New York, October 25 (IANS). US President Donald Trump will reach Kuala Lumpur on Saturday in the first leg of his Asia tour. They will visit Malaysia, South Korea and Japan while the trade war between the two countries continues.
Trade and investment agreements are expected across the region, but the biggest focus of the visit will be his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
In fact, in recent times, tension has increased between the two countries regarding tariffs, rare earth elements, technology and medicines. In such a situation, the world will be watching the meeting of the two leaders.
Trump will meet on October 30 during the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in the historic city of Gyeongju, South Korea. Let us tell you, US President Trump’s first visit to this region will start from the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday and Monday.
Apart from Trump and the leaders of its ten members, the ASEAN summit to be held in Malaysia will also include Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi, Australian PM Anthony Albanese and Canada’s Mike Carney.
Trump’s team will include Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, Finance Minister Scott Besant and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also invited to attend this summit. However, he will participate in the summit through virtual medium. On the second day of the program, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent PM Modi.
Let us tell you that many ASEAN members are upset with the tariff bomb dropped by US President Donald Trump. Especially if we talk about Laos and Myanmar, the 40 percent tariff on them is a matter of concern.
Recently there was a small skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia, which was resolved by President Trump’s mediation. In such a situation, it is possible that both the countries can sign a peace agreement in the presence of President Trump.
The Trump-Xi meeting is going to be held on the sidelines of the APEC summit. According to reports, the US leader will not attend the actual summit, but will attend bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
On one hand, China threatened comprehensive export controls on rare earth minerals. On the other hand, America has warned that it will add 100 percent duty to the already imposed duties, due to which the total duty on China may increase to 157 percent.
Trump has demanded that China lift restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, begin buying soybeans, and ban the drug fentanyl and the materials used to make it.
Looking at the situation, the agreement between China and America during this summit meeting will depend only on whether Trump and Xi are able to reach an agreement on all these pending trade issues or not.
President Trump said, “After our meetings in South Korea are over, China and I will have a very fair and excellent trade deal.”
South Korea may award President Trump its highest civilian honor, the Grand Order of Mugunghwa. During the summit, discussions about the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un were also going on rapidly. However, there has been no confirmation of this.
Between the two summits, Trump will also visit Japan from Monday to Wednesday. The visit will focus on trade and investment issues and will also include a visit to the imperial palace to meet Emperor Naruhito.
–IANS
KK/AS
