As U.S.-China relations enter a critical inflection point, East Asian scholars confront the implications of a transitioning strategic ecosystem in which economic nationalism now overshadows traditional security alignments.
The Busan meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump has triggered anxiety and confusion among scholars across East Asia. It appears they are struggling to discern which paradigm or grand strategy now defines U.S. policy in the region. Does America view the Indo-Pacific through a G2 framework, one in which Washington manages regional security and trade concerns in partnership with Beijing, privileging Chinese interests and marginalising long-standing allies such as Japan, South Korea, and even India? Or does the Indo-Pacific strategy remain intact, with Trump’s characterisation of his meeting as a ‘G2 summit’ representing mere rhetoric rather than the emergence of a new world order?