COLU @ CONCEPTS

Image copyright GETTY IMAGES US President Donald Trump is on his first official trip to Asia, passing through Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. From trade to etiquette, each stop will have its own challenges. So here is a (non-exhaustive) beginner's guide to the issues at stake. The journey begins in the shadow of North Korea Mr Trump starts off by visiting Washington's closest Asian friends: Japan and South Korea. But it's North Korea they will be talking about. Pyongyang has already sent two long range missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test. Despite harsher sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has shown no sign of slowing down the pace of weapons development. Skittish observers wonder if the visit will prompt Pyongyang to do something rash. But if talks with almost every leader are about how to deal with North Korea, there is unlikely to be any real consensus. Here are some key questions from this leg of t...

Image copyright REUTERS Image caption Mr Xi has a decidedly different personality to that of Mr Trump Donald Trump is the kind of person who occasionally gets locked up in Xi Jinping's China. A boastful billionaire, someone who thinks he is bigger than the Party, bigger than the national project. Such a colossus can disappear to no known location for a period of quiet reflection with the help of the Communist Party's discipline enforcers, later to reappear muttering grateful homilies on what the Party has done for his business. As President Trump and President Xi prepare to meet in Beijing, the contrast between the leaders of the world's economic superpowers is stunning. Where  senior members of Mr Trump's own Republican Party have dismissed his White House as an "adult daycare centre"  , Mr Xi's Party lieutenants describe the Chinese president as a great and wise leader, "the saviour of socialism". Mr Trump cannot even depend on fell...

Media caption Trump to N Korea: 'Your weapons are not making you safer' US President Donald Trump has issued a blunt warning to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un in an address to South Korea's parliament. "Do not underestimate us. Do not try us," he said, while also condemning the "dark fantasy" of life in the North. He addressed Mr Kim saying "the weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer", and urged other nations to join forces to stop Pyongyang. The US leader is now in China as part of a five-nation tour of Asia. He will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for talks likely to focus on trade and North Korea. Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions have been high on Mr Trump's agenda throughout this trip. Over the past year North Korea has carried out missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions and in September conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test. Trump vows to tackle N Korea on Asia trip N...