Trump's Asian tour an opportunity to boost US engagement with the region

US president Donald Trump's 12-day trip to Asia, covering five countries - the longest of his presidency so far - is an opportunity for him to reassure several anxious Asian leaders that the US continues to be committed to the region, and has substantive plans to remain engaged.

Mr Trump started on a positive note. Before leaving Washington, he announced that he would extend his trip to attend the East Asia summit in the Philippines, which he had earlier planned to skip. But while showing up is important, what matters most is what he will leave behind at the end of his marathon tour.

So far, the Trump administration's dealings with Asia have left many observers puzzled. On his first day in office, he announced that the United States would exit the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - the largest trade deal in history, which had already been signed less than a year earlier. Thereafter, his Asian agenda has been dominated by an escalating war of words with a nuclear-armed North Korea, which has elicited typically bellicose responses from Pyongyang, including a series of missile tests.