AXIOS (Colin Demarest) - Drills, deals and doubts in the Pacific as Trump visits China
The first half of May is foreshadowing the future of Indo-Pacific security. Why it matters: Long-term competition between the U.S., China and their friends — on AI, chips, cybersecurity, freedom of navigation, narrative influence, supply chains and more — is reshaping the world. In just two weeks: - The U.S. and Japan, participating in Balikatan drills, fired a Tomahawk missile with a Typhon launcher and ship-sinking Type 88 missiles from the Philippines — a first and, from Beijing's view, a provocation. - Japan inked a defense cooperation agreement with Indonesia, hot on the heels of loosened arms-exporting restrictions. - Taiwan's legislature approved $25 billion in special funding to buy weapons. The move follows months of…