10 Nov Asia takes in Trump’s ascent
SIIA Council Member Manu Bhaskaran, and SIIA Honorary Member Tommy Koh and SIIA Chairman Simon Tay were quoted in the Nikkei Asian Review on Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election and the implications of a Trump Presidency for Asia.
As Donald Trump spoke to a raucous, cheering crowd of supporters in New York after winning the U.S. presidential election, reactions in Asia to his unforeseen triumph ranged from sanguine to concerned.
“A new president who has questioned decades-long alliances in Asia with [South] Korea and Japan, who has lashed out against China and who seems to have signaled to Putin’s Russia that he can cut a deal with them. America’s enemies, including North Korea, will be tempted to push the envelope, test how far they can go with the US,” said Manu Bhaskaran, chief executive officer of Centennial Asia Advisors, a Singapore consultancy.
“I draw an analogy between Mr. Trump and President Reagan. There were a lot of fears in the world too when [President Reagan was elected]. But he governed on the center, and approached competent people in The Republican Party to help him in his cabinet,” said Tommy Koh, former Singapore ambassador to the U.S.
“America’s position in Asia is no longer concrete and the rest of the world has to focus on moving forward without America, such as going ahead with the Trans-Pacific Partnership without America,” said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute for International Affairs.
Asia takes in Trump’s ascent [Nikkei Asian Review, 10 Nov 2016]
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 3.0