DIPLOMATIC feathers were ruffled a bit at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Bangkok this week, when US President Donald Trump snubbed the key regional meeting, saying he was “busy with campaign events back home.” The Asean leaders responded appropriately, with most of them declining to attend a meeting with the low-level officials Trump sent in his place, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and National Security adviser Robert O’Brien.

US policy toward Southeast Asia has been nothing more than disgraceful ever since it fell under Trump’s antagonistic and short-sighted control, beginning with his abrupt and universally condemned pullout from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as soon as he was installed in office in early 2017.

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