In Asian media this week: Trump hints at changing great-power relationship. Plus: Beijing wresting control of the global narrative; Myanmar’s scam centre raids dismissed as a smokescreen; Prabowo considers declaring Soeharto a national hero; US approves South Korean nuclear-powered submarine; China’s modern women need new men.

Donald Trump has resurrected the concept of a group of two, a G2 — the US and China — with Asian media exploring its meaning: moving from containment to greater collaboration or two spheres of influence?

Trump used the concept before and after his recent summit with Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea. “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. After the meeting, he said: “My G2 meeting with President Xi of China was a great one for both of our countries. This meeting will lead to everlasting peace and success.”

Nikkei Asia, the online politics and business magazine, noted in an analysis that the Trump administration had yet to release its China strategy, its Indo-Pacific strategy or its National Defence Strategy. “The president’s repeated use of ‘G2’ hints at his vision of the relationship: one in which the two major powers collaborate rather than clash,” it said.

But the article also recalled Xi had spoken in the past of the need for a new model of the major-country relationship. The statement conjured up images of the two powers dividing the Pacific into two spheres of influence. Analysts noted that Trump was moving closer to Xi’s view.

The idea of a G2 as an economic relationship was developed by economist Fred Bergsten some 20 years ago and embraced by former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. But it has fallen out of use, replaced by a strategy of great power competition.

Zhao Minghao, an American studies specialist at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said in a South China Morning Post op-ed Trump’s use of the term G2 should not be overstated. “But it is important to recognise that the US president values great power co-ordination,” Zhao wrote.

Commentator Wang Xiangwei said the Xi-Trump summit delivered little by way of concrete breakthroughs. “Yet it may have quietly opened the door to a new modus vivendi: a Group of Two world in which China and the US co-ordinate on some global problems while continuing to compete, even fiercely, on others,” Wang wrote in an analysis published by Singapore’s CNA (channelnewsasia.com).

Wang, a former SCMP chief editor, said America's economic containment of China had failed. “It is in this context that Mr Trump’s G2 rhetoric should be read,” he wrote.

An op-ed in The Indian Express, by author Sanjaya Baru, said that by using the term G2, Trump had declared a power shift that had been long in the making.

Traditionally, India had worked to “engage” America, “manage” China, “cultivate” Europe and “reassure” Russia. Now, thanks to Trump, India would have to engage China and manage America, while still reassuring Russia.

Trump leaves APEC early but Xi stays and presses his case

Donald Trump went to the APEC meeting in South Korea last week, met Xi Jinping and some other leaders, made a speech at the CEO summit and went back to Washington. He did not attend the leaders’ summit. Xi stayed.

Beijing capitalised on Trump’s early departure, Nikkei Asia said. He presented China as the superpower more committed to multilateral engagement.

China, it suggested in a headline, is winning the narrative as a stable force, as opposed to the US with its inconsistent diplomacy.

At APEC, Xi said China would bring more stability and certainty and provide fertile soil for global investors. He announced that China would host next year’s APEC summit in Shenzhen, the high-tech city that is home to such giants as Huawei, BYD and drone-maker Dii.

“China is very confident that the US is increasingly isolated and that China is winning control of the global narrative, showing the US as the source of global disruption, with China trying to position itself as a rock of stability,” said Andrew Gilholm, director at the consultancy Control Risks.

A Bloomberg analysis published by The Japan Times said Trump might have grabbed the headlines during his recent Asian tour but Xi was the star of the show.

“Trump left – but Xi stayed on, using the forum to press ahead with China’s ambition to become the region’s most significant power,” the op-ed said.

Xi’s diplomatic efforts were a sharp foil to Trump’s transactional, America First, approach. Xi pledged openness and supply chain stability, positioning Beijing as a champion of the global order Washington built but now undermines through its punitive trade tariffs.

“For Washington, the antidote is simple,” the article said. “Show up.”

Beijing was also busy at the ASEAN summit, held just before APEC.

China and ASEAN signed an upgraded version of the 2002 China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim, the current chair of ASEAN, said the updated agreement, known as CAFTA 3.0, was a milestone that would open up a new chapter in the bloc’s strategic partnership with China.

A story in The Diplomat, the online newsmagazine, said the agreement covered nine new areas, including the digital economy and the green economy. It said the signing of the agreement came a day after Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on Asian leaders to defend the principles of free and open trade.

Junta raids online fraud hub – with local warlord’s permission

Myanmar last month mounted a 10-day assault, using drones and ground troops, on a sprawling online scam centre near the Thailand border but the raids have been dismissed as a mere smokescreen.

A local warlord, General Saw Tin Win, leader of the Border Guard Force, said the existence of the cybercrime centres was a burden for the Myanmar military junta. “They want to show that they have destroyed it,” he told the Karen Information Centre, in comments later reported in English by Nikkei Asia. “We have given them permission to do so.”

Nikkei Asia said Saw Tin Win’s comments prompted Myanmar analysts to dismiss the raids, at an online scam complex known as KK Park, as a smokescreen in response to growing international pressure.

It quoted a diplomat in Yangon as saying the attacks were considered to be window-dressing. “It is generally believed the regime had to give in ‘to a degree’ to Chinese pressure to act against the compounds,” the diplomat said.

Bangkok Post reported about 1600 foreigners, from 28 countries, had fled into Thailand. It said they had been detained and charged with illegal entry, but it did not say what happened after they had been charged.

But, in another story, the Post said many foreign workers at KK Park had stayed behind to pursue other black-market opportunities.

A Chinese scam worker was quoted as saying several hundred people who left KK Park had come to his centre about three kilometres away, lured by monthly salaries of up to US$400 (about A$615).

“Some people will be picked up by unscrupulous bosses, while others will be picked up by good companies,” he said. “It all depends on your luck.”

Jason Tower, an expert on transnational crime, said many KK Park workers had simply been re-recruited by other gangs.

Note: Thai police this week arrested 42 Chinese nationals they believed were preparing to cross into Cambodia to join a call-centre scam operation.

Police seized 215 mobile phones, 11 laptops, and 10 Myanmar SIM cards, plus flash drives and notebooks containing records and baht 807,000 (about A$38,000) in cash.

Opposition grows to hero title for corrupt Soeharto

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is considering declaring ousted former president Soeharto a national hero.

Tempo magazine reported the name of Soeharto, president for more than 31 years, was on a list of candidates the Ministry of Social Affairs had submitted to the presidential palace.

Prabowo would make the final decision, it said.

But Tempo said the proposal had sparked opposition. It quoted Hendardi, chair of the National Council of the Setara Institute, an NGO advocating democracy and human rights, as saying Soeharto was unfit for the title because of allegations of human rights violations and crimes against humanity under his authoritarian, militaristic regime.

Soeharto ruled Indonesia from 1967 until 1998, resigning in the face of bloody nationwide protests against his regime.

A story in The Jakarta Post said opposition was growing to the proposal as Soeharto was notoriously known for leading an regime rife with corruption and human rights violations.

“Granting Soeharto the title of national hero would be like pardoning the crimes of [his] New Order and ignoring the systemic corruption, collusion and nepotism,” said Almas Sjafrina of Indonesia Corruption Watch.

Soeharto perfected the dark art of corruption during his time in power, said an editorial in The Jakarta Post. The culture of corruption was deep-rooted, it said.

“In the years after the Reformasi movement ousted him from power, Indonesia has been more or less free from Soeharto’s political legacy,” the editorial said. ”Yet corruption remains Indonesia’s intractable problem.

“And despite frequent pledges from successive presidents in the past five administrations to crack down on corruption and uphold transparency, there is no sign that the problem of corruption has been solved.”

Soeharto ranked as one of the giants among the world’s most corrupt political leaders, the paper said.

“With a reputation like this, Soeharto should certainly be the last person to be bestowed the title of national hero,” it said.

Tempo said Prabowo was expected to announce his decision on Monday, 10 November – coinciding with Heroes’ Day.

Submarine consent a big shift in Washington-Seoul relationship

The US has approved South Korea building at least one nuclear-powered submarine, a big shift in defence co-operation between the two countries.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would work closely with the State Department and the Energy Department to move the plan forward.

Donald Trump said recently on his Truth Social app he had granted South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine at the Philly Shipyard, operated by the Hanwha Group in Philadelphia. His statement followed a summit with South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung.

The Korea Herald said this was the first explicit green light for Seoul's decades-long pursuit of nuclear propulsion at sea.

Hegseth’s statement marked a decisive acceleration of South Korea’s goal, The Korea Times said. The move could strengthen Seoul's ability to deter North Korean aggression and counter Pyongyang’s submarine fleet.

But it could also cause concern in Beijing and Moscow about a regional arms race, the paper said.

In a separate story, the Times said crucial details of the submarine plan were yet to be worked out with Washington.

Lee had asked Trump to approve the supply of nuclear fuel for the submarines, as the current Korea-US nuclear co-operation agreement does not allow Seoul to enrich uranium, or reprocess spent nuclear fuel, for military use.

Trump stopped short of addressing the fuel issue, the paper said. But the next day he announced he had approved the construction of nuclear-powered submarines in America.

“South Korea will be building its Nuclear Powered Submarine in the Philadelphia Shipyards, right here in the good ol’ USA,” Trump said on social media. “Shipbuilding in our Country will soon be making a BIG COMEBACK.”

The Times said his announcement seemed to be an unexpected development for South Korea officials. It quoted Choi Il, a retired navy captain who heads a think-tank called the Submarine Research Institute, as saying he viewed Trump’s remarks more as a political statement than a formal policy decision.

“For Trump, the move seems less about regional security and more about leveraging the project to revive America’s shipbuilding industry,” Choi said.

Footnote: Trump referred to building a submarine but the stories generally refer to submarines.

China’s women shun old roles but men are mired in the past

Women in China decades ago turned their backs on their traditional domestic seclusion. The modernisation of China over the past century could be seen in many ways as the modernisation of women, said women and gender studies historian Wang Zheng.

The world of Chinese women was once an intensely private existence. Women were bound by a rigid patriarchal order, with Confucian codes of propriety, hierarchy and submission. They were confined to the inner chambers of the home. Men ruled the outer world.

Change began with the May Fourth protest movement of 1919, a time of intellectual and cultural awakening.

A feature article in the South China Morning Post said Chinese women, inspired by Western feminism and its demands for suffrage, education and legal rights, launched a wave of change advocating the emancipation of women.

But Wang Zheng, professor emerita of women and gender studies at the University of Michigan, said the revolution remains unfinished in China.

Wang was interviewed last month after attending a global women’s summit in Beijing. The meeting commemorated the UN’s groundbreaking World Conference on Women, held in the Chinese capital in 1995.

She said there was a widening gap in the ways men and women saw their identities and roles in Chinese society. This was the main issue in the conflict between men and women and it contributed to the country’s declining marriage rate.

Women were no longer confined to traditional gender roles but men still clung to their conventional expectations.

“Hegemonic masculinity still defines male success in terms of power, wealth and access to women, forming the dominant template of manhood, much as it did over a century ago,” Wang said.

“The birth of the new woman is a revolution of the heart and mind. As women’s material lives have changed, so too have their inner worlds. But without the emergence of the new man in the 21st century, the liberation of women will remain incomplete.

“We now have new women – but no new men.”

 

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.