The Trump administration’s early moves on Asia policy were unsettling. The new president swiftly withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He seemed minded to confront China from Taiwan to the South China Sea. And he has long been noted for his sceptical attitude to US alliances with Japan and South Korea.
Over the past week, however, Mr Trump’s approach to both Japan and China has begun to look more conventional. That is both important and reassuring, given the critical significance of East Asia to the economic and strategic stability of the world.
The two most important events were an apparently successful phone call with Xi Jinping, the president of China, and a long and cordial meeting — featuring golf and dinner — with Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan.