US VP Pence Will Face Chorus of Calls For Free Trade in Singapore

By Manik Mehta NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- As United States (US) Vice-President Mike Pence heads for Singapore - he is visiting Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Papua New Guinea from Nov 11 to 18 on behalf of President Donald Trump - he is going to face a chorus of calls from Asia-Pacific leaders, urging the administration to continue with the policy of free trade and also defuse tensions arising from the Rohingya problem in Myanmar, the South China Sea conflict, etc. Analysts in the US have pointed out that Trump’s absence will be conspicuous, particularly when leaders of powers such as China, India and Japan will be present and call for free trade; Trump’s absence is also likely to send the wrong message about US commitment to the region, particularly in view of China’s growing assertiveness in and around the South China Sea, making the neighbouring states uneasy. Besides Pence, the other leaders attending the ASEAN summit include Chinese Prime Minister Li Kequiang, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are also attending the Singapore summit. “I expect Chinese Premier Li to garner support for the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which is being projected as an agreement that will unleash free trade accounting for one-third global GDP,” a former US diplomat told Bernama, preferring to remain anonymous.  Besides China, the 16-member strong RCEP pact includes India, Japan and South Korea. The US is not a RCEP member state. Trump, in his first foreign policy move upon assuming office in 2017, withdrew from the – economically more viable – Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which, after the US withdrawal, now has 11 Asia-Pacific member states. The US and China are currently locked in a trade war which has shaken many nations and rattled global markets. But Li is not expected to go on a confrontational course in Singapore and will instead, harp on the need for both the US and China to cooperate to resolve their trade disputes, echoing the views presented by the Chinese leadership a few days back for market opening and reducing tariffs. Many are speculating that Li might possibly hold bilateral talks with Pence on the forthcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 conference in Argentina. The ASEAN meeting, which kicks off on Tuesday in Singapore, will seek to resolve the bickering between its members who have not reached any consensus on Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, with some 800,000 refugees from the region fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh. Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who will be attending the Singapore summit, stated recently he has no faith in Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has been criticised for maintaining silence on the Rohingya issue which has become a major source of irritation between some ASEAN member states. There are fears that the Rohingya crisis, if not resolved quickly, can escalate and further harden the attitude of some members, not only against Myanmar but also against other states that oppose a confrontation with it. The ASEAN meeting will also, invariably, turn attention to the tensions in the South China Sea; both the ASEAN group and China will endeavour to push the process towards achieving a code of conduct in the South China Sea, even as few expect that a breakthrough can be achieved on this issue in Singapore. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei as also Taiwan have claims to some islands which China says come under its sovereignty because of “historical reasons”. From Singapore, many of the participating leaders will again meet at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Papua New Guinea next weekend. Pence will meet with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, and Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in addition to other bilateral meetings. National Security Advisor John Bolton will join the vice-president for the US-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit in Singapore and APEC meetings in Papua New Guinea. According to Alyssa Farah, the vice-president’s press secretary, Pence will use the Singapore and Papua New Guinea meetings to demonstrate American leadership in the region, and “reaffirm our commitment to freedom, economic prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific”. This will be Pence’s third trip to the region as vice-president and he will reaffirm Trump’s commitment to the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. He will also deliver the message that “authoritarianism, aggression and disregard for other nations’ sovereignty by any nation in the Indo-Pacific will not be tolerated by the US. -- BERNAMA