The New York Times comments: "President Trump's recently concluded trip to Asia had the potential to advance important American security and economic interests. Played correctly, his ambitious five-country, 12-day trip could have steadied his administration's rocky start in this vital region. Instead, it left the United States more isolated and in retreat, handing leadership of the newly christened 'Indo-Pacific' to China on a silver platter. The trip began with solid performances in Japan and Korea, where Mr. Trump's relatively measured words left key allies reassured of the United States' commitment to their security. The president largely shelved his belligerent trade rhetoric, called for allies to buy more American military hardware and reopened the door to diplomacy with North Korea. Weather curtailed his surprise trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but that may have been a blessing, since hostile words might have prompted hostile action. But in China, the wheels began to come off his diplomatic bus. The Chinese leadership played President Trump like a fiddle, catering to his insatiable ego and substituting pomp and circumstance for substance. China always prefers to couch state visits in ceremony rather than compromise on policy. This approach seemed to suit President Trump just fine, as he welcomed a rote recitation of China's longstanding rejection of a nuclear North Korea and failed to extract new concessions or promises. He also settled for the announcement of $250 billion in trade and investment agreements, many of which are nonbinding and, in the words of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, 'pretty small.' Missing were firm deals to improve market access or reduce technology-sharing requirements for American companies seeking to do business in China... President Trump's lighthearted embrace of a self-proclaimed killer, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, was the nadir of a high-stakes trip that set back American leadership in Asia. But it was, perhaps, the perfect if unintended coda to the president's 'Make China Great Again' tour."
Financial Times reports: "Last month, China's ruling Communist party enshrined "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" into its constitution. The constitutional amendment was primarily about politics and power, especially the party's power over all social spheres including corporate activity. As with most Communist slogans, "Xi Jinping Thought" is a conveniently vague concept. One of Mr Xi's predecessors, Deng Xiaoping, used the phrase "socialism with Chinese characteristics" to provide ideological cover for a series of essentially capitalist and market-orientated reforms that weakened party control over China Inc. Mr Xi is using the same phrase, with a "new era" twist, to reassert party control over state-owned enterprises and private sector groups. For such companies, the president's assertion that "north, east, south and west — the party is ruler of all" has some very immediate consequences. After three decades in which China Inc was given ever greater autonomy at home and abroad, that liberalising trend is decisively over. In Mr Xi's new era, the interplay between the party and business will instead resemble an endless game of whack-a-mole. Consider two recent transactions. One was small, featured primarily private-sector actors and came to light during the recent party congress. The other, which involved a state-owned energy group paying a record amount for a single office building, emerged shortly after the congress closed. Both occurred in the context of the party's year-long crackdown on overseas investments that Mr Xi's administration fears may have more to do with capital flight than capital appreciation."
CNBC reports: "Asian equities closed lower on Tuesday following a lackluster session on Wall Street that saw major indexes close just above the flat line. Investors also digested the release of a slew of Chinese economic data points that came in below forecasts. The Nikkei 225 erased early losses to close flat at 22,380.01 as gains in most tech names balanced losses in trading houses and energy-related stocks. Shares of Sharp and Toshiba closed up 2.91 percent and 4.66 percent, respectively. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi lost 0.15 percent to finish at 2,526.64 as automakers and cosmetics names pared gains made in the last session. Brokerages also trended lower. Despite the benchmark index edging lower, the tech-heavy Kosdaq soared 2.03 percent by the end of the session... Greater China markets traded mixed. The Hang Seng Index was off 0.06 percent by 3:15 p.m. HK/SIN while mainland markets closed lower following the release of a slew of economic data released in the morning. The Shanghai Composite declined 0.52 percent to end at 3,429.97 and the Shenzhen Composite lost 0.95 percent to close at 2,025.78. Data on Tuesday showed that the country's fixed asset investment growth between January and October slowed to 7.3 percent, below the 7.4 percent forecast in a Reuters poll. Retail sales for October rose 10 percent compared to one year ago, against the 10.4 percent projected in a Reuters survey. Industrial output, for its part, increased 6.2 percent that month, a touch below the 6.3 percent forecast."