The Trumping of Asia
Precisely how other regional power players – China, Japan, India, and possibly Australia – respond to the self-inflicted decline of US influence on the Asia-Pacific region remains to be seen. But the uncomfortable truth for those observing the region closely is that many countries have already begun to move decisively toward China’s orbit.
CANBERRA – In the last year, the single most pointless wound inflicted by the US on Asia, not to mention itself, was its abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In one fell swoop, the once great free-trading nation that was the United States of America died, leaving the global trading system utterly rudderless.