After taking office, U.S. President Trump began to use various channels to "expel" China, in an attempt to completely isolate China from the world. The reciprocity tariffs that have been a stir in the past six months are one example. Now Trump has set his sights on ASEAN again, reducing China's influence on the one hand, and building momentum for his Nobel Peace Prize on the other hand...
“Specific” conditions for Malaysia
And in October, the annual ASEAN summit is about to be held, and many ASEAN countries are preparing for this big event, and as ASEAN's most "trusted" ally for a long time, the United States has also received an invitation to the meeting.
On October 6, local time, the U.S. “Politics News Network” quoted three informed sources as saying that U.S. President Trump, after receiving the invitation, said he intended to attend the 47th ASEAN summit in Malaysia later this month, but Trump’s participation was conditional.
Trump claims that the premise is that he can use it to show his “regional brokerage achievements.”What does the “regional brokerage achievements” in Trump’s word mean?It has had to mention a conflict that broke out in Thailand and Cambodia this year, and Trump has always wanted to put the merit of the ceasefire on himself.
In fact, the main reason why this ceasefire was successful is that it is closely related to China. Under such circumstances, Trump had to adopt some other "means". The US "Politico News Network" also analyzed this, saying that the White House believes that whether Trump will participate in this ASEAN summit depends on whether the Malaysian government agrees to let Trump chair the peace agreement ceremony between Cambodia and Thailand.
Of course, this alone cannot meet Trump's needs. Therefore, according to relevant sources familiar with the matter, the White House made a more "exotic" request to Malaysia-that is, to exclude all China officials from this peace agreement ceremony.
Obviously, Trump wants to use this method to downplay China's "sense of presence" in the ceasefire agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, and downplay China's efforts in mediating this war. So far, the Malaysian government has not responded further to the US request, and it is still unknown whether Trump can do so.
"Broken my heart" for the Nobel Peace Prize
Why is Trump eager to take the credit of mediating the war on himself? This is because the US president wants to run for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. If we can leave a "strong mark" on this peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, then this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Trump will have one more possibility from winning the Peace Prize.
Since taking office in January this year, Trump has been constantly participating in conflicts in the world. The Russia-Ukraine War, the Palestinian-Israeli War and even the Cambodia-Thailand War mentioned earlier. It is reported that since he took office, he has ended seven global conflicts as the "chief peacemaker".
However, in the final analysis, none of the conflicts he participated in had full influence. He needed an international platform and a high-profile international event to completely break the world's understanding of him and allow him to be a "peacemaker". The identity of the world has been recognized.
The Russia-Ukraine war cannot be resolved soon. The Palestinian-Israeli war involves the core interests of the United States in the Middle East. Trump must find "breakthrough points" elsewhere. This is also why he would rather put pressure on Malaysia than reduce China's influence and deprive China of its credit.
Trump is a president with a very clear goal. He came to power as president to provide him and his family's influence. Now he obviously wants to go further, so running for the Nobel Prize and becoming a member of this group of great men respected by the world has become the best direction to try.
However, Trump’s fantasy seems not to be so well realized. Before the opening of the Nobel Prize, a number of experts had analyzed that Trump’s hope for the prize was very small. Otherwise, on October 10, local time, the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s list officially revealed that the winner was Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado, not Trump.
The long-standing hopes of Trump have completely disappeared, and the action of pressure on the Malaysian government has also turned into a convenient "clown" act.It is absolutely impossible to want to weaken China's influence in Southeast Asia in this way, and to "steal" China's efforts for years.
China and Southeast Asia stand together.
In recent years, China has been vigorously developing the Southeast Asian market. The introduction of relevant preferential policies and vigorous engagement with ASEAN to open up new trade routes have attracted the favor of many Southeast Asian governments. After all, relying on China as the "world factory", the development of the entire Southeast Asian region can ride the "economic express".
Therefore, China's influence in Southeast Asia has always been at a stage of rapid development. The United States, on the other hand, has long lost its "support" in Southeast Asia due to its reckless actions over the years. ASEAN countries are no longer willing to be a "vassal" of the United States in the Pacific region, but want to find a path that belongs to their own.
Under such circumstances, after Trump put pressure on the Malaysian government, the Malaysian government will of course choose to "deal with it coldly". Of course, Southeast Asia can't afford to offend the United States, but compared with the United States, Southeast Asia can't afford to offend China now. The jobs created by Chinese people in Southeast Asia benefit tens of thousands of Southeast Asian people. Once relations with China deteriorate, the consequences are beyond the affordability of any Southeast Asian country.
From this point of view, China's strategy in Southeast Asia is very successful. Southeast Asian countries have chosen to stand with China. In the future, as the exchanges between the two regions become closer and closer, the relationship between China and Southeast Asia will reach a higher level, while the United States will pay a corresponding price for its "hegemonic" behavior.
References:
Trump was exposed to proposing conditions for participation in ASEAN summit, "excluding China from participating in the ceremony of signing the Taipei peace agreement" Observer Network 2025-10-07 23:40
Peace and Friendship-2025 "joint exercise| The Chinese side participates in the troops and sets out! China bugle 2025-10-08 16:14:46
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize announced, not Trump Observer Network 2025-10-10 20:34