Was the carpet red enough? How Japan, India view Xi-Trump summit

Tomohiko Taniguchi (0:02)

This is a podcast by The Straits Times.

Ravi Velloor (0:11)

Hello and welcome to this Asian Insider Podcast. I'm Ravi Velloor, and today we're going to talk about the recent summit between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and how it is viewed in Tokyo and New Delhi. Both Japan and India have a closed security partnership with Washington. Both also have complicated relationships with Beijing. The summit, therefore, got intense media attention in both these countries.

This time, I have two valued guests to discuss the developments. They are Professor Tomohiko Taniguchi, who used to be the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Shinzo Abe Cabinet, and Dr. Sanjaya Baru, who is a renowned geopolitical expert and media advisor to the late Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. I am privileged to know both these gentlemen as my friends. In fact, the three of us contributed to a book on the late Shinzo Abe not too long ago.

And so, welcome to Asian Insider, Tom Taniguchi and Sanjaya Baru. What a pleasure to have you both on the show.

Tomohiko Taniguchi (1:24)

Thank you for having me too.

Ravi Velloor (1:26)

Tom, shall we start with you? What did you make of the reception that President Xi Jinping received in Washington from Donald Trump?

Tomohiko Taniguchi (1:36)

My impression was it was less gorgeous, less flowery. I think it was rather modest. That reminded me actually of what Xi Jinping received many, many years ago from the United Kingdom when Xi Jinping visited Britain, where David Cameron, then Prime Minister, extended what was then called the red carpet.

The red carpet that Donald Trump extended was not so much redder than usual red carpet. So I think it was rather a modest one.

Donald Trump actually was present at the airport when Xi Jinping stepped down from the aircraft. I think it was a calculated Donald Trump-esque action. He knew that it costs very, very little, and yet he could have won hearts and minds of a lot of people from China. So it was very much a calculated action in my view.

Ravi Velloor (3:00)

Wonderful. Sanjaya Baru, could I ask you the same question? I also noticed that Prime Minister Modi did not go to this year's UN General Assembly session.

Sanjaya Baru (3:12)

Well, I'm afraid I disagree with my friend Tomohiko San, the way we look at the deception that President Xi Jinping got in Washington, DC. I think at least the Indian media saw it very differently. First of all, there is a background to that visit. President Trump, when he went in May to meet President Xi, spoke about a G2, which was unprecedented. It made the waves. And then this was the second meeting. And at the end of the second meeting, they agreed to meet again two times, once in November and once in December. So I think we would be misreading the nature of the relationship if we underplay the significance of the visuals.

And the visuals are significant in the era of social media, not just for Chinese viewers, but viewers around the world, certainly viewers in India. I think we're quite surprised, given the fact that when Prime Minister Modi went to Washington, he was not even received at the door of the White House. He was received by an aide of the president when he went last year to Washington, DC.

And this was commented upon in India. So I think from an Indian perspective, this meeting and the schedule for another two meetings and the red carpet treatment and the fact that after 60 years, or more than 60 years, I think 62 was the last time President Kennedy went to receive Prime Minister MacMillan. Now, MacMillan is a different kind of meeting. Kennedy meeting MacMillan in the airport in 1962 was fundamentally different from Trump meeting Xi at the airport. So I think I would read it slightly more differently.

Ravi Velloor (5:07)

Thank you. Thank you for that. I was talking the other day with John Huntsman, who used to be the American ambassador to China. He told me that sometimes optics can be important as well.

If I were to ask you both that aside from the optics, what were your, let's say, two or three key takeaways from the meeting, what would they be? Tom, would you go first, please?

Tomohiko Taniguchi (5:34)

The biggest key takeaway for me was, there wasn't nothing especially substantial. China may have agreed on buying more stuff, agricultural stuff from the United States, which may have pleased Donald Trump and his colleagues.

And when it comes to the Middle East conflicts, the fact that Iran should open its homos straight, there was no agreement, it seems, between China and the United States. What was more interesting for me is the report that has come out very much recently from Wall Street Journal saying that there was a five hour break interval for Xi Jinping when Xi Jinping chose not to meet anyone else. So that's given a gasoline to a fire of rumors already rampant that something serious may or may be occurring to Xi Jinping's health.