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Asia, caught in the middle, faces Trump and Xi’s tug-of-war
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The global economy hangs in the balance as the two leaders hold talks that could either prompt or prevent another full-blown trade war.
PHOTO: ERIN SCHAFF/NYTIMES
David Pierson
HONG KONG – US President Donald Trump touched down in Malaysia on Oct 26, beginning an Asian tour that will bring him face-to-face with China’s top leader, Mr Xi Jinping, as well as a region that has been increasingly reshaped by the competition between Beijing and Washington.
In this new kind of superpower rivalry, he and Mr Xi are offering contrasting visions for how the world should be ordered, with consequences for chip factories in South Korea, factory floors in Vietnam, the contested waters of the South China Sea and the status of the self-governed island of Taiwan.
