South China Sea Tensions May Rise If Trump Wins, ING Says

Tensions in the South China Sea may escalate should Donald Trump win the US presidency as Washington may scale back its presence in the region and that could boost Beijing’s stance, according to the Asia head of research at ING Groep NV.

The US under Trump may not stand up to China in the disputed sea in the same way that Joe Biden would, Robert Carnell said in Manila on Monday at the bank’s annual briefing on the Philippine economy.

A Trump administration may also dial down relations with Taiwan although the prospects of a clash “remain vanishingly low,” ...