Abolishing the pivot policy, Trump will be tougher in Asia

The White House's announcement of an end to the rebalance to Asia may simply be a move to erase the legacy of its predecessor, while maintaining a level of interest in the region.

» America no longer pivots to Asia

US President Donald Trump. Photo: NYT.

"The approach of the US President Donald Trump's administration in the past few months has been to erase the legacies of his predecessor Barack Obama's administration, and the term 'Asia pivot' is one of them," Dr. Le Hong Hiep, an expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore, commented when talking to VnExpress about Washington's recent foreign policy moves.

On March 14, Ms. Susan Thornton, acting US assistant secretary of state, officially announced the end of the "Asia pivot" policy initiated by Mr. Obama to strengthen relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Hiep assessed that this statement is quite contradictory to what the Trump administration has said and done in reality, such as implying the continued maintenance of an active US military presence in the region when mentioning the East Sea, promoting the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea. Therefore, Mr. Hiep believes that the death of the pivot policy may be just a formality, after all, the concepts of "pivot" or "rebalance" are just names.

Agreeing with this opinion, Mr. Harry Kazianis, Director of Defense Studies, Center for the National Interest, USA, said that the new US administration does not want to reuse the old name from the Obama era to refer to its foreign policy and that is the "must do". If looking at President Trump's recent actions, the public can expect that Mr. Trump will not only consider Asia as a priority but will also be tougher with China.

The American expert mentioned President Trump's phone call with Taiwan's leader, making strong statements aimed at China when referring to strategic and trade issues.

"I think Mr. Trump will have a more focused, flexible and strategic Asia policy than former President Obama," Mr. Kazianis said.

According to this researcher, the US will take actions in the coming time to ensure that China does not dominate the East Sea, ensure that the East China Sea remains a free international route, support Japan in controlling the Senkaku Islands, restrain North Korea, and intervene in some issues in Taiwan.

Believing that the public should not be surprised that the new US administration wants to "put its stamp on their world approach policy", Brian Harding, a researcher at the Center for American Progress, USA, said that the timing of the White House's announcement to end the "Asia pivot" policy was understandable, when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was visiting Asia.

Mr. Harding said that the Trump administration's Asia policies do not seem to have major changes, but are just being implemented in different ways compared to the Obama administration's.

“For example, Trump will focus on military solutions, reduce the focus on public diplomacy and not care about multilateral trade agreements,” Mr. Harding said.

Dr. Le Hong Hiep emphasized that in the Asia-Pacific region, other indicators show that the national interests and concerns of the US have not fundamentally changed, especially in the strategic and military fields. Therefore, the Trump administration will basically maintain the main contents and components of the pivot policy, but will adjust the approach somewhat, even in a more rigid direction, and will give it a new name.

"It is undeniable that this statement has had a psychological impact, as it has sown some confusion and uncertainty in the region, but under the Trump administration, it is a 'new normal' that countries should look forward to," Mr. Hiep emphasized.

According to VNE