Chinese leader Xi Jinping courted Asia-Pacific leaders at a summit in South Korea that US President Donald Trump skipped, a sign of the leaders’ ostensibly divergent foreign policy strategies.
Addressing the summit, Xi defended multilateralism, a concept Trump has voiced disdain towards. But the pair nevertheless share similar approaches.
Both are trying to use trade to win over nations in the region: Trump has announced deals on his multi-stop Asia tour, offering relief from tariffs as a prize, while Beijing is upgrading commercial ties with ASEAN. And yet both have also punished those they hope to influence. Washington, for example, has previously imposed tariffs on allies, while Beijing has used military pressure to lay claim to disputed territories.
