Trump's 'America first' policy may turn into 'China first'

PRESIDENT Donald Trump's relationships with Russia and his sympathies, real and alleged, with President Vladimir Putin have attracted much attention. Another plausible candidate for a "friend of Trump" accolade is President Xi Jinping of China. Many of Mr Trump's actions since his inauguration on Jan 20 are likely, directly or indirectly, to strengthen Beijing's international position.

Mr Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate change accord weakens overall momentum behind lowering carbon emissions and quelling global warming. But the US's move to retreat from leadership in this and other spheres such as trade may end up reinforcing China's ability, through a variety of "soft power" measures, to move forward. While advocating "America first", Mr Trump may become instrumental in promoting China to a more effective position on the world stage.

One big problem for Mr Trump is that Asia is now starting to emerge across a variety of fields including defence cooperation - dealing with the many political and security hotspots throughout the region. By apparently ditching long-held American principles in favour of a case by case "transactional approach" in trying to resolve policy dilemmas, Mr Trump may be responding to US domestic pressure for a more hard-nosed attitude towards "free-riding" allies and partners. But he is opening himself to the charge that America cannot be trusted over the longer term - and giving China a gigantic opportunity to move across Asia into a leadership role from which it will not easily be supplanted.