Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis have all toured Asia less than 100 days into President Donald Trump's administration, but experts still say the US lacks any clear, coherent Asia strategy.
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Trump is winning support against North Korea — but losing the war for influence in Asia
"We’ve seen in the past when US comes at China with clear priority, especially when sanctions seem imminent, China gets more motivated to act."
U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping chat as they walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 7, 2017.
All 100 US Senators were invited to a briefing on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday, with a similar briefing in the works for the 453 members of the House.
Earlier this month, the topic of North Korea reportedly dominated the conversation between China's President Xi Jinping and Trump.
But despite repeated threats of military force and attempts to force China's hand against North Korea, the US hasn't defined a clear strategy on North Korea, or anywhere in Asia.
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A recent article in the Washington Post quoted high-level Japanese officials as urging the White House to not only clear up a short-term North Korea policy, but also a long-term policy for dealing with China, whose land grabs in the South China Sea originally drew ire from Trump and have long troubled their neighbors in the region.
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"When you approach China, it is a good idea to have a set of priorities. If you throw five different issues at them and you don’t make clear which is your priority, you’re less likely to get any response," said Glaser. "We’ve seen in the past when US comes at China with clear priority, especially when sanctions seem imminent, China gets more motivated to act."
But while the Trump administration may be winning the battle on coercing China to act against North Korea, they may be losing the larger war for influence in the Pacific.
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