U.S. Alliances in East Asia are Weathering Trump’s First Days

Deutsche Welle

01 February 2017

US President Donald Trump confirming an “ironclad” commitment to defending S. Korea and a visit by Secretary of Defense Mattis are signals that US-East Asia alliances may withstand the political upheaval in Washington.

Amidst an anticipated shift in US foreign policy under President Trump and a turbulent beginning to his presidency, Washington is signaling to allies in East Asia that they can count on continued US support on a number of issues that include countering a belligerent North Korea and addressing Chinese maritime ambitions.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis will be in Seoul on Thursday to meet with the South Korean Minister of National Defense Han Min koo. Mattis will continue to Tokyo on Friday to meet with Japanese Minister of Defense Tomomi Inada.

… “I think we need to consider that last year much of this talk had largely to do with election rhetoric,” Collin Koh Swee Lean, a research fellow at the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told DW.

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Last updated on 02/02/2017