Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


ASEAN Leaders Meet Under Cloud of US-China Trade War

Reuters

   BANGKOK - Southeast Asian countries must stick together in the face of
   a trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump, Malaysia's veteran
   leader said Saturday at the start of a regional summit held in the
   shadow of U.S.-China tensions.

   But as leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
   (ASEAN) met in Bangkok, there was no sign they had yet finalized a
   planned trade deal backed by China that could create the world's
   biggest free trade area.

   "We don't want to go into a trade war. But sometimes when they're
   unnice to us, we have to be unnice to them," Mahathir Mohamad,
   Malaysia's outspoken 94-year-old prime minister told a business summit
   on the sidelines of the main meeting.

.