TOKYO -- German chancellor Angela Merkel's announcement of her planned departure from power was as unflamboyant as the woman herself.

There were no grand speeches when she made public her decision in Berlin on Oct. 29. And there will be no dramatic exit, as she plans to remain chancellor until 2021.

But, her statement is still a political earthquake for Germany, the European Union and the rest of the world, not least Asia.

It leaves the EU's strongest leader palpably weakened at a time when effective European leadership is needed in the face of challenges, including U.S. President Donald Trump's nationalist America First approach, Russian belligerence, China's rise and the global drift from multilateral cooperation.

Even though she plans to stay in the chancellery, the impact of Merkel's decision is immediate. Aged 64, she is giving up leadership of her ruling Christian Democratic Union in a few weeks, opening an urgent succession race.

In the past, she always said she had to hold both posts and has done so since 2005, when, already party leader, she became chancellor.

Now she is backing down, taking responsibility for the party's dismal showing in regional elections on Oct. 28 in the central state of Hesse, and its generally poor performance in opinion polls.

Having won 32.9% of the vote in the last election in 2017, the party and its Bavarian partner the Christian Social Union is now on around 25% in opinion polls.

For the party that has governed Germany for most of the time since the Second World War, that is a dramatic decline, which has been blamed largely on Merkel's performance during the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, when she kept the borders open to over 1 million migrants.

A tired-looking Merkel said splitting her two jobs was "a gamble, no doubt." Others were more brutal in describing the humiliating loss of authority. Handelsblatt, the German business newspaper, headlined its story: "The bisected chancellor."

Asia as a whole has not figured prominently on Merkel's international itinerary. Despite a personal love of travel, she has preferred to stick close to her home German and European turf. Within Asia, she has overwhelmingly prioritized China, visiting almost every year, while managing only three trips to Japan, two to India and one to Indonesia.

However, even if she has not traveled much in Asia, she has immersed herself in trying to understand Asia, especially China, through books, reports and exchanges with experts.

So how will Asia be affected by her departure?

First, Europe's most important country will be plunged into political uncertainty, as would-be successors fight for Merkel's party post -- and the opportunity it offers to follow her as chancellor. Even after the vote is taken at a party conference in December, the lobbying for influence in a post-Merkel CDU will be intense.

Next, these battles will exacerbate existing tendencies for the elites to look inward -- at the cost of international focus. As in the U.S. and many other European countries, politics in Germany is driving in that direction any way, with the rise of the right wing Alternative for Germany party. It wants tougher immigration controls, less foreign engagement and reduced international aid. While the internationalist Greens, who are also riding high in opinion polls, present a more open face to the world, they do not represent the same political force as a Merkel-led CDU/CSU in its heyday.

Moreover, with the U.K. Brexit-bound, Italy in financial turmoil and France battling for economic revival, there is no strong European nation ready to help Germany lead the EU.

French President Emmanuel Macron has advanced plans to deepen eurozone integration with reforms for more financial risk-sharing but these have been resisted by Merkel. With her on the way out, the CDU/CSU will be even less likely to support putting more German taxpayers' money at stake for EU-wide purposes.

The Social Democrats, Merkel's coalition partners, are more solidarity-minded but in an even worse political condition, with their support rate below 15% for the first time in their long history.

Meanwhile, with Germany looking a bit inward than before , it will be easier for nationalist EU members, such as Hungary, to increase their disruptive approach to union politics

For Asian governments and companies, all this means less attention to their needs. Brexit highlights why this matters: Britain's proposed departure from the bloc threatens to disturb supply chains.

Finally, for Asian countries, Merkel's personal commitment to free trade and open borders -- born of her experience growing up in the closed-up Communist East Germany -- has been crucial, especially since the mercantilist Trump took power in January 2017.

With her influence diminished, protectionists will be louder, even within the EU.

Merkel has primarily seen China -- and other Asian states -- as trade and investment partners, reflecting closely the view of German business. But, like German business, she has in recent years developed a far more critical opinion of Beijing. She has come to share foreign companies' concerns about Chinese enterprises squeezing technology out of their partners in return for market access, while enjoying fairly free commercial entry into Europe.

While Merkel favors building transport ties across Eurasia, she does not want them turned into political chains binding EU capitals to Beijing. © Reuters

Germany, having previously resisted more interventionist policies from France and others, has in the past two years backed recent EU moves to strengthen scrutiny of Chinese acquisitions, especially in high-technology. Berlin is also boosting its own defenses, planning to permit officials to block acquisitions by non-EU companies in sensitive sectors, if they involve as little as 15% of a target company's equity, down from 25%.

Merkel has also backed pushing back Beijing's efforts to expand its political influence in the poorer states of Eastern Europe. The EU has expressed alarm that China is securing diplomatic support in return for cheap finance for infrastructure schemes, notably in the huge Belt and Road Initiative. While Merkel favors building transport ties across Eurasia, especially if they help reduce Russian influence, she does not want them turned into political chains binding EU capitals to Beijing.

But despite these concerns about China, Merkel's broad backing for a liberal economic order has been undimmed. Only a few days before her shock departure announcement, Merkel reiterated her view at the Europe-Asia summit in Brussels. She said: "Our theme is about creating connections, for example through free trade agreements ... We can show that it's about creating win-win situations, making it clear that when one profits, the other also profits."

Merkel's rhetoric was never her strong point. But Asians will miss the weakening of her cool voice of reason in an increasingly volatile world.

Stefan Wagstyl is commentary editor of the Nikkei Asian Review and a former chief Germany correspondent of the Financial Times