Asian leaders attempt to separate rhetoric from reality

Hong Kong

DONALD Trump is set to tear up a giant Pacific trade pact and has questioned alliances that have defined America's engagement in Asia since World War II. But it is too early to declare President Barack Obama's "pivot" dead.

For Asia's leaders, a big question from Mr Trump's win is whether America's military and economic focus on Asia will continue, given how he played on a populist mood at home and pledged a less interventionist foreign policy. With an increasingly expansionist China on their doorstep, many countries have looked to the US to provide a counterbalance.

Now, diplomats and analysts are parsing Mr Trump's comments and those of his advisers to try and separate his c…