BBC:
As US President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One in Kuala Lumpur, it was at the end of a busy 24 hours that, by the White House’s account, included a flurry of deals that brought “peace and prosperity” to the region.
The headlines will follow Trump as he flies to Japan and then South Korea, for a much-awaited meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
But getting him to the Asean Summit gave the grouping of South East Asian nations its biggest moment in the sun, at a time when many have been questioning its relevance.
For Trump the biggest draw was that he got to preside over a “peace deal” between Thailand and Cambodia whose long standing border dispute erupted into open conflict in July.
He wanted this in his ongoing quest to clinch a Nobel Peace Prize for resolving wars, although the Thais were reluctant to call it a “peace deal”.
This came on the back of another rare win for Asean, whose chair, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, brokered the initial ceasefire between the two countries.
Part of these successes could be attributed to Anwar himself, a veteran politician who could leverage his long-term relationships with the Cambodians and Thais, while charming Trump – even getting away with a sensitive joke about jailtime.
But in the end it was clearly US pressure that sealed the deal, with Thailand and Cambodia quick to cease hostilities following Trump’s economic threats.
Sunday’s signing was accompanied by announcements of US trade deals with Cambodia and Thailand, with Trump making it plain he intends to use business deals to pressure countries to make peace.
For most leaders, the main bonus of Trump’s appearance was that they got precious face time with the president at a crucial point in US tariff negotiations.
Many of Asean’s member states are export-dependent economies – with the US being a key market. Besides Thailand and Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam also signed deals with the US. And while they were not able to budge tariff rates, they managed to negotiate some goods exemptions.
“Trump was here for a photo op… this was just another feather in his cap,” says Joseph Liow, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
But, he adds, the thinking was that “since he’ll be here, let’s make the best of it” and Asian leaders would have leveraged on his attendance to “broaden his aperture about the convergence of interests between US and Asia”.
