*

On-again, off-again Xi meeting is visit's centerpiece

*

Five-day trip spans Malaysia, Japan and South Korea

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Trump tests deal-making prowess in tariff-battered region

(Notes Trump departure and his comments in paragraphs 22, 23

and 24)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump will test his deal-making capabilities on a trip to Asia,

a region battered by his hardball trade policies, while doubts

hang over his highly anticipated meeting with China's Xi

Jinping.

Trump, who left Washington on Friday night, is set for a

five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first to

the region and longest journey abroad since taking office in

January.

The Republican leader hopes to pile up trade, critical

mineral and ceasefire deals before turning to the toughest

challenge, a face-to-face with Xi on Thursday in South Korea.

Trump is also working to maintain the signature foreign

policy achievement of his second term, a fragile ceasefire he

helped to strike in the Israel-Gaza conflict, while the Russian

war in Ukraine rages and a trade war with China shows little

sign of ending.

US AND CHINA TRADE THREATS ON KEY MINERALS, TECHNOLOGY

Washington and Beijing have hiked tariffs on each other's

exports and threatened to cut off trade in critical minerals and

technologies altogether.

The trip was formally announced by the White House on

Thursday. Details remain in flux, including the meeting between

leaders of the world's two largest economies.

Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore terms

of trade that existed before Trump's second-term inauguration in

January, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Instead, talks between the two sides to prepare for the meeting

focused on managing disagreements and modest improvements.

An interim agreement could include limited relief on

tariffs, an extension of current rates, or China committing to

buy U.S.-made soybeans and Boeing ( BA ) airplanes. Beijing

reneged on similar promises in a 2020 deal with Trump.

Washington could let more high-end computer chips flow to

Beijing, which in turn could loosen controls on rare earth

magnets that have angered Trump.

Or, nothing could come of the talks at all.

On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the

Trump-Xi talk would be a "pull-aside," suggesting nothing

formal. Trump later told reporters the two would have "a pretty

long meeting," allowing them to "work out a lot of our questions

and our doubts and our tremendous assets together."

China has not confirmed a meeting is planned.

TRUMP SET TO VISIT THREE COUNTRIES, MEET WORLD LEADERS

Mira Rapp-Hooper, a visiting fellow at the Brookings

Institution and former Biden administration official, said

Trump's Asia policy has been defined by intense pressure on

countries' trade policies and defense spending.

"The high-level question on this trip is really, who does

the United States stand with, and what does it stand for," she

said.

Trump is expected at the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations summit, which starts Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

There, he could oversee the signing of a ceasefire deal

between Thailand and Cambodia. The deal would formalize an

agreement that ended the worst fighting in years between the two

countries in July, though it falls short of a comprehensive

peace deal. During his second term in office, Trump has branded

himself as a global peacemaker.

After that stop, Trump will head to Japan to meet Sanae

Takaichi, the newly elected prime minister. Takaichi is expected

to affirm plans by her predecessor to hike military spending and

to make $550 billion in Trump-directed investments in the U.S.

Then, in Busan, South Korea, Trump plans to meet Xi ahead of

an international trade summit. Trump is set to return to

Washington before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders'

forum gets under way, according to the schedule announced by the

White House on Thursday.

Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports to

a total of some 155% from November 1 if they cannot strike a

deal. That would almost certainly provoke a reaction from

Beijing and end a truce that paused tit-for-tat hikes.

Beyond trade, the two leaders are expected to discuss

Taiwan, a long-running U.S.-China irritant, and Russia, a

Chinese ally now subject to expanded U.S. sanctions over the war

in Ukraine.

"There's no intent from the U.S. side to discuss other

issues," aside from China's trade, export controls and its

purchases of Russian oil, according to a U.S. official, who said

Trump would be prepared to reiterate previous responses if Xi

raised other topics.

Before departing the White House on Friday for the trip,

Trump told reporters he expected the Taiwan issue to be raised

during his talks with Xi.

Trump also said he will likely raise the issue of releasing

Jimmy Lai, the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy

newspaper Apple Daily. Lai is serving a prison sentence in Hong

Kong under Beijing-imposed national security laws.

"It's on my list. I'm going to ask ... We'll see what

happens," Trump told reporters.

DEAL OR NO DEAL

It was not clear if Trump would try to resume trade

negotiations with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is

also traveling in Asia, after abruptly cutting off talks. The

two "will likely see each other" on Wednesday at a dinner with

other leaders, another official said.

Trump is also trying to close trade deals with Malaysia and

India, while shoring up a deal that has already been struck with

South Korea.

U.S. and South Korean relations have been strained by

Seoul's concerns over the $350 billion investment in U.S.

companies sought by Trump and deportations of the country's

foreign workers.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wants Trump to pursue

peace with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. U.S. officials considered,

but never confirmed, a trip to the demilitarized zone (DMZ)

separating the two Koreas, according to another person familiar

with the discussions. Another U.S. official said on Friday that

no Kim-Trump meeting was on the schedule for the trip.