An expert commentary for South China Morning Post on 26 September 2018 by Dr. James Downes.
The title: “Second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un may be held after October”
The summary of commentary by Dr. Downes:
“A summit held before the US midterm elections in November “may be a way for President Trump to score more political points with his key Republican voter base”, said James F. Downes, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
(1) “If Trump delivers on the summit, this is likely to go down well with his voter base. However, at the same time, it is also difficult to predict whether such a summit taking place would have an overall positive effect,” he added. China would also want to be part of further talks on the end-of-war declaration.
(2) “It is of paramount importance that China should be involved in the [peace treaty] process … If China is not involved in the process, this will most likely create further polarisation between the United States and China, potentially exacerbating the chances of a full peace treaty negotiation being reached,” Downes said.”
