John: Good evening.

I'm John Yang.

On the first day of his nearly week long Asia trip, president trump sought to shift attention from controversies at home to deals struck with allies in the region.

In co-all of them poor for a summit of Asian leaders, -- in Kuala Lumpur for a summit of Asian leaders, Mr.

Trump took part in a ceremony to sign a series of agreements.

An accord ending the brief war between Cambodia and Thailand, and economic deals with both of those nations and with Malaysia.

Addressing the summit, Mr.

Trump tried to reassure a region that's been hit hard by U.S.

Tariffs.

>> My message to the nations of southeast Asia is that the United States is with you 100 percent and we intend to be a strong partner and friend for many generations to come.

Together we'll create incredible prosperity for the nations on both sides of the pacific ocean and to seize new opportunities for all of our people.

John: On NBC's meet the press, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is closing in on a trade deal with China.

>> President trump gave me a great deal of negotiating leverage with the new threat of 100% tariffs on November 1, and I believe we have reached a very substantial framework that will avoid that, and allow us to discuss many other things with the Chinese.

Ohn: U.S.

And Chinese negotiators aim to have a final deal by Thursday when the president meets with Chinese leader XI jinping in south Korea.

Jonathan czin of the Brookings institution was China director on president Biden's national security council and a senior China analyst for the CIA.

What do we know about this framework the secretary was talking about?

Is it likely to lead to something substantial, or is this just something to have for the meeting on Thursday?

>> I think this is more the latter, something to have for the meeting for Thursday.

This has kind of been the story throughout this trade worsens liberation day in April where you have skirmishes between the sides, but then the particulars will come down to focusing on her relatively narrow agreements on either specific sectors or specific firms without ever getting to the strategic trade issues that essentially animated the trade war in the first place.

There was talk from the U.S.

Side about Chinese purchasers of soviet Dutch soybeans, export controls on rare Earth elements and a deal on tiktok.

> Both sides have discussed may be a fentanyl deal, but the Chinese site has also mentioned additional possible aspects like U.S.

Levees on Chinese ships accessing reports.

John: Besides trade, what are the other topics>>?

President trump brought up the possibility of Ukraine with the Chinese side, and Taiwan has come up as a possible area of discussion as well.

Trade has been the predominant focus which is why the main conduit of exchange has run through the vice premier of the Chinese side and secretary Bessent on the U.S.

Side.

What is at stake for this?

> For president trump, there's a fair bit at stake, there is an important element to demonstrate his persona as a dealmaker.

For president XI, I think the goals are less ambitious.

He's looking to sustain relief he secured earlier in the year from U.S.

Trade measures.

I think he sees that as a win for right now.

John: What is the relative bargaining strength with the leaders as they go into the meeting?

Is one side and a stronger position?

> From the U.S.

Side, there are a number of cards the U.S.

Has to play.

From the Chinese perspective, what they are going to read into this and what they read into the trade were so far is that the U.S.

Side does not necessarily have the appetite.

Part of what's happened in the run-up to this meeting is that the Chinese sides have switched from playing defense from most of the year largely reacting to U.S.

Policy moves to playing offense for expansive export controls on rare Earth elements with China has a chokehold over.

The fact that the U.S.

Side did not follow through with threats to retaliate, beijing will see that as a sign that they can enact these measures with impunity, and if that's the case, I think we are in for another round of skirmishing and further bumpy rounds in the trade were in 2026.

John: Mr.

Trump has other meetings, going to Japan to meet with the new prime minister, and in South Korea at the apex summit.

What are you watching for?

> The fact that the meeting is occurring at all is significant for the Japanese.

We are dealing with a new prime minister and when that's new to international diplomacy.

She is from the more conservative wing of the party and had said before that she might be tougher with the trump administration, but we have not seen evidence of that since she's taken office.

Instead what we saw on Friday before her meeting was an indication that Japan would elevate its defense spending from 1% to 2% of its gdp.

John: And the apex meeting?

>> This will be tougher the south Korean side, trumps meeting with president XI is overshadowing the whole event.

I think there are going to be details they are focused on.

They have their own trade negotiations they are looking to finalize and I think they are hoping to lock that up.

One of the most metal submissions is what to do about this $350 in -- $350 million investment fund.

Not just for the Koreans but throughout the region, because there has not been a clear indo pacific strategy articulated by the trump administration, they will see the meeting as a proxy sign for the administration's broader approach to the region.

John: Jonathan czin of the