Trump policy keeps Southeast Asia guessing

Trump does frequently mention one Asian power – China  which has a deeply rooted influence on its Southeast neighbours, sometimes in an antagonistic context. The longrunning dispute over the resourcerich South China Sea is one example in which the US has set itself against China, calling on the latter to respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the US itself has yet to ratify.
Retired Thai ambassador Kobsak Chutikul has suggested that Asean, using mechanisms such as the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, could mediฌate tensions between the two major powers. “[It is a question of] what can we do to get both sides to take one step back,” he said.
However, Suthad Setboonsarng, the former deputy secretarygenฌeral of the Asean Secretariat, argued that the diverse nature of Asean nations, which have held to the principle of noninterference, have neither a determined agenda nor enough weight compared with the major powers. 
Asean and the US have made recent gains when engaging each other in dealing with China. “But under theTrump administration, there is a lot of uncertainty,” Suthad said. “But I can say that he is someฌthing we have to watch for.”
Suthad, who had also served on the board of the Bank of Thailand, added that Trump’s decision for the US to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will result in a massive amount of work for the US to negotiate bilateral agreements with partner countries, could provide opportunities for Thailand. 
For instance, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed freetrade agreement between Asean and six other countries, is still on the horizon and Thailand plans to accelerate talks to achieve a deal by the end of the year.
Veteran journalist Keith Richburg, now serving as the director of Journalism and Media Studies Centre at Hong Kong University, said Trump’s immigration policy banning Muslims, which is not limited to cerฌtain countries, should be watched closely because some Asean countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia were Muslimmajority states. 
“Human rights and democratisation will also take the back seat [under the Trump administration]. Trade seems to be his numberone priority,” Richburg said. “We need to also pay attention to what kind of pressure he will put on China ... It should be noted that World War I was also started by a mistake.”
The comments were made in a discussion organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand titled “Trump and Southeast Asia”.