Could Donald Trump&rsquo s " Make America Great Again" policies end up instead making Asia &ndash East Asia especially &ndash greater than ever? Things appear to be moving in that direction as the US president' s alienating trade and  tariff policies  create an incentive for East Asia and Europe to move into each other&rsquo s arms.

Such a marriage, increasingly speculated upon, within the framework of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) could create one of the world&rsquo s largest, most economically dynamic free-trade areas, offsetting much of the impact of US isolationism.

The prospect of a Europe-Asia economic alliance is one card both regions could play if Trump&rsquo s tariff tactics are perceived, particularly in  Beijing and Brussels, as becoming too aggressive &ndash although there is a counterargument that the US presence in Asia is so entrenched as to negate such threats.

In the view of Yuqing Xing, an economics professor at Tokyo&rsquo s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, the " revolutionary changes" brought about by the Trump administration have created a favourable environment for China&rsquo s application to join the CPTPP.