“Advancement of the ASEAN is Korea’s advancement. Cooperating over the past 30 years through friendship and trust, we have shown ‘potential of Asia,’ overcoming financial and foreign exchange crises,” President Moon Jae-in said ahead of announcing the joint press statement.

“Now, we have the confidence to propose a new answer for the future of the globe through the ‘spirit of Asia.’”

Moon went on to sum up plans agreed to by the leaders as stipulated in the joint vision statement adopted earlier in the day. During the first session of the day, which reviewed the 30 years of ASEAN-Korea relations and discussed the next 30 years, the leaders adopted a statement outlining the direction in which Korea’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will develop.

The statement, titled ASEAN-Republic of Korea Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity and Partnership, contains “the vision for direction of future cooperation agreed to by the leaders of Korea and ASEAN.”

“First, ASEAN and Korea agreed to expand cultural and people-to-people exchange, and to build a ‘people-centered community,” Moon said.

According to Moon, the leaders agreed to seek ways to facilitate movement of people such as simplifying visa regulations and air travel regulations.

He also said that Korea will work to improve conditions for nationals of ASEAN members living in Korea, and that Seoul will cooperate with each of the ASEAN members to provide support and protection for Koreans based in the countries.

“Second, Korea and ASEAN will become an ‘innovative community of shared prosperity’ on the foundations of free trade,” Moon said, adding that the summit attendants reaffirmed the value of free trade.

“Science and technology cooperation center, and cooperation centers for standardization and industrial innovation will be established within the ASEAN, and partnership in (the field of) startups will also be strengthened,” Moon said.

Saying that connectivity among ASEAN members is key to sustainable growth of Korea and the region, Moon said that Seoul will increase cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, smart city, finance and environment as part of the efforts to execute the “Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025.”

“Third, we agreed to work even more closely for (building) ‘peaceful east Asian community.’ We the leaders shared the view that peace and stability in Northeast Asia is linked to the security of Southeast Asia, and to cooperation for building peace in the region,” Moon said.

According to Moon, the ASEAN leaders pledged to aid the process of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula, and expressed support for his idea of transforming the Demilitarized Zone into an “international peace zone.”

The idea of turning the DMZ that separates the two Koreas into a peace zone was first proposed by Moon at a recent UN General Assembly.

In addition, Korea and ASEAN members will collaborate in dealing with new security threats such as cross-border crimes, cybersecurity, natural disasters and climate change.

The 2019 ASEAN Integration Report showed that, despite growing uncertainty in the global economy, the bloc’s overall economic performance remained promising, with the region’s trade totaling $2.8 trillion in 2018, an increase of 23.9 percent from the 2015 figure of $2.3 trillion.

The region attracted $154.7 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) last year — the highest in history and a 30.4 percent increase from FDI inflows of $118.7 billion in 2015.

ASEAN economic integration continued to contribute to the region’s emerging position as a global growth driver, with intra-ASEAN activity accounting for the largest share of ASEAN’s total trade and FDI in 2018 at 23 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively, the report said.

The increasingly integrated ASEAN economy follows the introduction of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

The AEC is essentially the economic integration of the 10 ASEAN members, guided by the 2025 AEC blueprint, which provides extensive directions through strategic measures between 2016 and 2025. It recognizes the free movement of skilled labor, goods, services and investment between member countries as key factors.

“It’s important for stakeholders to know where are we after four years of implementation of the blueprint,” Julia Tijaja, director for ASEAN integration monitoring at the ASEAN Secretariat, said on Tuesday.

“We note that there have been significant changes in the global political economic landscape that ASEAN is in, and this is a very different situation from when we first launched the 2025 blueprint. It is important for us to take a step back, reflect on what has been achieved so far and see what else […] we need to do while still working toward the 2025 goals.”

Organized by major research institute Riken, “Fusion of Artificial Intelligence with Human Sensibility” featured a fashion show in which models wore dresses designed by Ema Rie in “collaboration” with AI technology.

A team led by Riken researcher Jun Seita used AI technology typically utilized in healthcare and medical data analysis to analyze about 500 works designed by Ema and images of objects such as shells and roses. The AI system used the results of the analysis to output designs that Ema then used as the basis for the 12 dresses showcased at the event.

“We’ve realized that AI is now shifting stage — from a research subject to practical use in various fields of society,” Riken Yokohama Branch Director Naoki Saito said.

As AI technology becomes more widespread, views have emerged expressing “reasonless caution” on one side of the spectrum and “excessive trust and dependence” on the other, Saito said. However, he stressed the importance of exploring the possibilities of human-AI collaboration in the pursuit of a healthy and fulfilling life in the future.

The symposium also showcased possible uses of avatars. Akira Fukabori, director of ANA Holdings Inc.’s avatar division, presented one of the airline group’s initiatives aiming to connect people in the future via avatar-enabled “transportation.”

A discussion was also held, featuring such panelists as Masayasu Ishihara of publisher Gentosha Inc. and Chubu University Prof. Ichiro Tsuda, who has published a book on mathematics and the human mind.

“I was surprised when the fashion show started as I thought I was here for a symposium about AI,” said audience member Yoshiko Kikuchi, 54. “Perhaps many people here will find inspiration by linking such technologies to their businesses.”

The symposium is part of efforts funded by the Yokohama city government to promote innovations in life science. In 2016, the Yokohama city government established Life Innovation Platform Yokohama to support innovation in the health and medical fields by facilitating collaborations among people in industry, academia, and the public sector.

As of the end of October, 270 companies and institutions had participated in the initiative.

Yet he recently congratulated the Communist Party on 70 years in power – which it marked with military display aimed at the United States – and said his relationship with Xi is “very amazing” despite their “little spat” over trade.

Though the U.S.-China relationship has been rocky over the past 18 months, many in China’s halls of power hope that the American leader will win a second term next year. For although he may seem unpredictable, Chinese officials are betting that Trump’s transactional approach to politics might be preferable to a more principle-driven president, whether Democrat or Republican.

“Trump is a businessman. We can just pay him money and the problems will be solved,” said a politically connected person in Beijing, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about sensitive international issues. “As long as we have money, we can buy him. That’s the reason why we prefer him to Democrats.”

Trump’s unfiltered tweets help China in negotiations because he is “easy to read,” said Long Yongtu, a former vice minister of foreign trade and China’s point man during its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, at a conference in Shenzhen this month. “We want Trump to be reelected; we would be glad to see that happen.”

Another influential voice in Beijing, Tsinghua University international relations professor Yan Xuetong, wrote recently that, thanks to Trump, China was facing “the best strategic opportunity” since the Cold War.

“Trump has undermined the U.S.-led alliance system, which has improved China’s international environment,” Yan said in Southern Review.

Governments around the world, from allies such as Australia and South Korea to adversaries like Iran and North Korea, have had to adjust to Trump’s idiosyncratic style.

But the Chinese were among the most shocked by the U.S. leader’s approach. When Trump took office, Communist Party officials thought that he was only interested in a quick, tweetable victory, analysts have said. But the party underestimated Trump’s resolve to both rebalance the trading relationship and make Beijing a public enemy among U.S. voters. Chinese leaders also acknowledge underestimating the extent to which China’s behavior has become a bipartisan concern in Washington, according to people who have met with senior officials.

Almost two years into the trade war and three years into his administration, Chinese officials have learned the art of Trump’s dealmaking.

“Trump isn’t ideologically opposed to China. He doesn’t go on about human rights and Xinjiang and the South China Sea,” the Beijing insider said, referring to China’s contested maritime claims and to its northwestern region where authorities have detained a million Muslims.

A Democratic president would almost certainly take a more wide-ranging approach to China. The candidates struck a strident tone in the debate last week, with several vowing to increase pressure on China over its human rights abuses in Xinjiang and the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong.

Trump does not seem concerned about those issues, said Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, the free and open Indo-Pacific, all of these are issues that President Trump does not typically address,” Economy said. “If I’m correct in my assumption that he doesn’t care about these issues, because he never talks about them, then he will be more willing to just trade them out in discussions with the Chinese.”

As if to prove that point, Trump declared Friday that he would be willing to veto legislation designed to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong – despite its near-unanimous support in the House and Senate – to pave the way for a trade deal with China.

None of this means that China will make the next year easy for Trump.

There has been no tangible progress on the “phase one” trade deal that the American leader had hoped to sign this month .

In October, Trump said the two sides were on the brink of “a very substantial” agreement under which China would double its annual purchases of U.S. farm goods to more than $40 billion. But he said last week that China was not “stepping up to the level that I want.”

Many analysts expect a “phase one” deal to be reached, not least because many of the provisions are in China’s interest. A virus has decimated the pig population in China, the world’s largest consumer of pork, spurring officials to look abroad and to other meats to satisfy demand. And the “phase one” deal looks a lot like the deal on the table in April – minus the parts that irritated Beijing.

Still, China’s leaders have no incentive to proceed quickly, said Paul Haenle, an Asia adviser in the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama who is now at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. “Why would we give the U.S. a comprehensive deal going into an election year?” Haenle said, posing the question Beijing officials are asking themselves. “If we give you a lot now and in 2020, then what will we have to give Trump in his second term?”

The trade dispute will become more difficult for Beijing if and when talks proceed to phases two and three. That’s when negotiators would have to discuss structural issues that have long bothered the United States, such as China’s practice of forcing foreign investors to hand over their technology, intellectual property theft, and subsidies for state-owned companies.

“So there’s a bit of a risk at this point, especially as we head into the 2020 election year, that the Trump administration will kind of settle for a superficial deal to claim a win,” said Alison Szalwinski, vice president of research at the National Bureau of Asian Research. “And that could take the wind out of the sails of talking about longer-term issues in the bilateral relationship.”

That should especially concern Congress, where there are some 25 different bills and resolutions related to China.

Congress and some parts of government, like the Defense and State departments, have had a relatively free hand to criticize China on issues such as Xinjiang and expansionism in the South China Sea, as long as they don’t conflict with Trump’s priorities, said Economy. “But if the trade negotiations progress and the president at some point decides to declare victory, the window for these types of actions will close,” she said.

For while Trump is thinking about four more years, Xi is thinking about many more than that. The 66-year-old has abolished term limits, effectively enabling him to continue leading China for the rest of his life.

That means Xi can agree to a “phase one” deal to play for time without having to offer more.

“If he retreats for eight, nine months to a year, it’s not a big deal for him, because I think he sees himself as the leader of China for the next 10 or 20 years, if not longer,” said Victor Shih, a China expert at the University of California at San Diego. “So he’s definitely playing a much longer game than the president of the United States right now.”