Asia | Banyan

Can Donald Trump maintain Joe Biden’s network of Asian alliances?

Discipline and creativity will help, but so will China’s actions

Illustration of national flags, including those of the US, the UK, South Korea, Japan and Australia, tucked into a crisscrossing lattice
Illustration: Lan Truong

AN ATTEMPT TO stage a self-coup in a democratic country—and an American ally to boot—should be the sort of thing that causes the resident of the White House to have some strong views. Yet when Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, imposed martial law on his country early last month, President Joe Biden stayed mum. His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said events in South Korea raised “alarm bells”. It took more than a month before Mr Sullivan could bring himself to call it “wrong”.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A fine mesh”

From the January 18th 2025 edition

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