The United States used to call this part of the world by a different name: the Asia-Pacific. But in the realm of diplomacy, the region has since been renamed the Indo-Pacific, with the Trump administration conscientiously beating the drum for its strategic vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific since President Donald Trump’s tour of the region last November. Assoc Prof Alan Chong of RSIS, said, “It was Japan’s initial reaction to the Belt and Road Initiative. Along the way, Trump appropriated it as a way to offset China’s charm offensive towards the entire Asia-Pacific.”