US President Donald Trump visited the Asia-Pacific region on October 26\u201330 with the aim of strengthening America\u2019s global position within the framework of the \u201cAmerica First\u201d concept. His main achievement was the resolution of key issues in trade and economic cooperation between the USA and China, which will enable the parties to expand their cooperation in the political and security spheres. According to most assessments, the implementation of such plans will contribute to reducing Russia\u2019s importance for China, which could then join the USA in putting pressure on Moscow to end the war against Ukraine. At the same time, Trump has demonstrated his tough stance on Russia and his willingness to counter its nuclear blackmail with concrete actions to strengthen the USA\u2019s nuclear missile capabilities.<\/em><\/p>\n The main political goal of US President Donald Trump, which he declared during his first term, is to strengthen America\u2019s role and importance as the world\u2019s leading power.<\/strong> This explains his campaign slogan, \u201cAmerica First\u201d, which he is putting into practice.<\/p>\n At first glance, Trump\u2019s foreign policy seems chaotic, but in reality, its nature is clearly defined. It is not its content that is changing, but only the form and methods of achieving certain goals. At this, the realities of modern geopolitics are taken into account.<\/p>\n Thus, according to US conceptual documents in the field of foreign policy and national security, China, which is catching up with the USA in terms of economic and military potential, is considered America\u2019s main rival (competitor). It is precisely in order to contain the PRC that the United States is making its main efforts. This situation objectively required a redistribution of US forces and resources from other areas, including Europe. That is why Donald Trump is demanding that Europe take more responsibility for its own security. He has now effectively achieved this, as he has convinced European countries of the need to increase their defense spending. This allows the USA to maintain its leadership in the new bipolar world system and build relations with China that are beneficial to the USA. First and foremost, this means the ability of the USA to impose its will on other countries, guarantee America\u2019s military security, and prevent China from gaining an advantage over it. At the same time, the USA is interested in normal relations with China, as the most powerful country after the US and one of its main trading partners.<\/p>\n As part of the practical implementation of these plans, Trump is clearly giving up the previous course of tough opposition to China, which he adhered to during his first term, and is embarking on building a strategic partnership, but with American interests in mind. At the same time, the USA is relying on Europe, which remains its main ally, and partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The main ones are Japan, South Korea, and Australia.<\/p>\n In this context, US President Donald Trump\u2019s visit to the Asia-Pacific region on October 26-30 was significant, when he participated in the ASEAN summit in Malaysia and the APEC summit in South Korea, and also visited Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n However, the main aim of his trip to the Asia-Pacific region was to meet with China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping. The parties discussed a number of important issues of mutual interest. The main ones were the settlement of trade disputes between the two countries, as well as the possibility of China increasing pressure on Russia to end the war against Ukraine. Besides, issues of nuclear weapons control and reduction were considered.<\/p>\n In general, the meeting can be considered successful for the USA and China. Trump and Xi Jinping reached agreements on key issues that had prevented the signing of a bilateral trade agreement. In particular, US tariffs on Chinese goods were agreed upon (reduced from 57 % to 47 %), and restrictions on the supply of rare earth metals from China to the USA were lifted. This makes it possible to deepen the USA-China relations in the political and security spheres. To this end, Trump is expected to visit China in April next year. Xi Jinping is going to visit the USA.<\/p>\n Progress in relations between the USA and China diminishes Russia\u2019s importance to Beijing as a factor in strengthening its position in geopolitical competition with the West. Therefore, in the future, China may agree with the USA on putting pressure on Russia to force it to end the war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n During the talks between Trump and Xi Jinping, no specific decisions were made regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. The Chinese leader only promised to support US efforts to restore peace in Ukraine. However, this is Beijing\u2019s general and usual position, which it can declare but not implement in practice. Nevertheless, Beijing has effectively supported US sanctions against Russian oil companies. As is well known, large state-owned companies in China, such as PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, and Zhenhua Oil, have suspended imports of Russian oil. Private Chinese companies are still buying it, but are refraining from signing long-term contracts with Russian suppliers.<\/p>\n The details of the discussions between the leaders of the USA and China on strategic nuclear security issues have not been made public. At the same time, the very fact that they are raising this issue indicates that they have common interests in this sphere.<\/p>\n Trump also used his visit to the Asia-Pacific Region to strengthen relations with the USA\u2019s partners in the region.<\/strong> Despite the trend toward rapprochement between the USA and China, they remain adversaries, which means that Washington needs allies to jointly defend its interests. To this end, Trump met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n During the talks between Trump and Prime Minister of Japan S. Takaichi<\/strong>, an agreement was signed on cooperation in the extraction and processing of rare earth metals, as well as on ensuring their stable supply to both markets. This is expected to reduce the dependence of the USA and Japan on these materials. In addition, issues were raised regarding increasing US investment in the Japanese economy, including shipbuilding and projects related to the import of American gas. In turn, Japan offered the USA a number of its own investment projects worth $550 billion.<\/p>\n A separate issue raised was the United States of America\u2019s strategic support to Japan in the context of potential threats from China. S. Takaichi confirmed the Japanese leadership\u2019s intention to speed up the plans to increase defense spending to 2 % of GDP by 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen regional stability.<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s meeting with and Emperor of Japan Naruhito was also important. The meeting was not practical in nature, but the role of the Emperor as a symbol of the Japanese nation demonstrates Japan\u2019s positive attitude to the participants in such events.<\/p>\n The results of the USA-Japan summit were seen in both countries as the start of a \u201cnew golden age\u201d in bilateral relations. They were a big step toward improving relations between the two countries, which got rocky earlier this year after Trump raised tariffs on Japanese goods. Prior to his visit to Japan, Trump reduced those tariffs from 25 % to 15 %.<\/p>\n According to many estimates, the negotiations between Trump and President of South Korea Lee Jae Myung <\/strong>were more complicated. However, the parties still managed to reach an agreement on the terms of a deal that would see South Korea invest $350 billion in the US economy. Security issues in the region were also discussed. According to media reports, Trump unsuccessfully tried to enlist Lee Jae Myung\u2019s support in organizing his meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits confirmed that the USA is interested in the activities of these Organizations as mechanisms for realizing American interests in those regions<\/strong>. In turn, for many members of these Organizations, the United States is an important partner in the trade and economic sphere. Therefore, in the context of D. Trump\u2019s tariff wars, they are trying to establish contacts with him and restore stability in their bilateral relations. Summits do not allow this to be done directly, but they lay the groundwork for it.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s ASEAN summit was used by D. Trump to promote his peacemaking activities. With the assistance of the US President and in his presence, the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia signed an agreement aimed at ending the armed conflict between the two countries.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s visit to the Asia-Pacific Region was a high-profile event that attracted worldwide attention. It gave the US President another opportunity to demonstrate his intention to defend American interests vigorously, including by military means.<\/strong><\/p>\n To make such measures more effective, Trump made his key statements aboard the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which was stationed at the US Naval Base Yokosuka on the island of Honshu in Japan. According to the US President, he will no longer act politically correct when defending his country<\/strong>. Unlike the previous White House administration, the current presidential team is not afraid to abandon tolerance towards the USA\u2019s aversaries and will defend America\u2019s security by all means possible. From now on, the USA intends to win wars as never before. At the same time, Trump has pointed out that the USA must work more closely with its allies.<\/p>\n To back up these statements, the US President has announced the resumption of nuclear testing. It is not yet clear what exactly this means and whether it implies America\u2019s withdrawal from the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Most likely, he meant testing new delivery systems in combination with modernized nuclear munitions, rather than actual detonations.<\/p>\n In particular, last year the USA adopted new B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs, which are currently deployed in Europe. They have guidance and trajectory correction systems that enable them to hit targets more accurately and increase their ability to overcome enemy air defense systems. Their power can be adjusted. The bombs are designed for F-35 aircraft, which are replacing the F-16 and F\/A-18 aircraft of European countries. Their capabilities were tested and verified during the US Air Force and NATO member countries\u2019 nuclear exercises \u201cSteadfast Noon \u2013 2025\u201d in October.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, all this is Donald Trump\u2019s unambiguous response to Moscow\u2019s nuclear threats<\/strong>, which intensified after the USA imposed sanctions on Russia and increased military-technical assistance to Ukraine through the PURL program (which provides for the sale of US weapons to NATO and their subsequent transfer to Ukraine).<\/p>\n The US President not only made it clear to Putin that he is not afraid of his blackmail, but also took an offensive position. At this, the Kremlin\u2019s latest fake news about the start of serial production of \u201cSarmat\u201d missiles, the adoption of \u201cOreshnik\u201d missiles, and the successful testing of the \u201cBurevestnik\u201d missile and the \u201cPoseidon\u201d nuclear submarine are countered by very real steps taken by the USA to modernize its nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n Thus, as part of his geopolitical plans to maintain American dominance in the world, US President Donald Trump is pursuing a flexible policy of containing China, the second most powerful force in the world, while simultaneously establishing constructive relations with it. This is currently yielding certain results, as evidenced by the outcome of Trump\u2019s visit to the Asia-Pacific region in October this year. The main result was the resolution of key issues in trade and economic cooperation between the USA and China, which makes it possible to deepen cooperation between the two countries in the political and security spheres as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n This has cemented a new world architecture with two leading centers, the USA and China. Significant differences do remain between them, but there are prospects for establishing partnerships based on common interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n In such a system, Russia is defined as a junior partner and raw materials appendage of China, rather than a separate center of power. At this, the establishment of the USA-China relations diminishes Russia\u2019s importance to China as a factor in strengthening its position in competition with the West. Therefore, China may agree with the USa to put pressure on Moscow, forcing it to end the war against Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n Moscow will not be able to change this situation even with its nuclear threats against the USA. Donald Trump not only does not succumb to such threats, he puts pressure on Russia in the nuclear sphere. D. Trump\u2019s position is likely to strengthen the USA\u2019s influence on Russia, although it also increases the threat of nuclear war between them.<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite signs of rapprochement between the USA and China, they remain rivals. Washington therefore needs allies to defend its interests. The main allies of the USA in the Asia-Pacific Region remain Japan and South Korea, although there are still certain problems in their relations.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yurii Mykhailenko, (Image generated by neural network)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yurii Mykhailenko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":32041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[261,260],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-32040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analitika","category-publikacii","tag-mixajlenko","wp-image-borders"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["uk","en","ru","fr","ar"],"languages":{"uk":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"fr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"ar":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"gutentor_comment":0,"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong>Institute for Global Politics<\/p>\n