“Given how the Trump administration failed to pay enough attention to building partnerships with like-minded states in Asia,” said Aries A. Arugay, the chair of the political science department at the University of the Philippines Diliman, “a second Trump presidency will endanger the momentum achieved by the revitalized United States-Philippine relations.”
But Bilahari Kausikan, a former top diplomat from Singapore, cautioned against equating American values with Asian ones.
“We structure our relationship with the U.S. much more on the basis of common interests rather than common values,” he said. “And the people who are very upset over the prospect of Trump, whether in Europe or in the U.S., or people who feel that he doesn’t share their values, we don’t share the values in the first place, not all of them anyway.”
The verdict against Mr. Trump came as India was wrapping up its 44-day election season. Manoj Jha, an opposition politician, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who is running for a third term, has employed some of the same tactics as Mr. Trump by “demonizing a section of his own population.”
“They thrive on fear,” Mr. Jha said.
In at least one regard — the prosecution of former leaders — the rest of the world is far ahead of the United States. South Korea, where four ex-presidents have been convicted of corruption and abuse of power, has made something of a national sport of imprisoning disgraced leaders. Former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac were convicted of corruption.
Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, has been charged with money laundering, among other crimes. And Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sentenced to years in prison for corruption after leading Brazil. His convictions were eventually annulled. He is again president of the country.
Camille Elemia, Choe Sang-Hun, Motoko Rich, Alexandra Stevenson, Sui-Lee Wee and Sameer Yasir contributed reporting.
