UPDATE: China top issue as Obama starts Asean summit
President Obama to press ASEAN leaders to boost trade & back common goals for South China Sea during summit to solidify US influence in ASEAN.
President Obama to press ASEAN leaders to boost trade & back common goals for South China Sea during summit to solidify US influence in ASEAN.
UPDATE
China top issue as Obama starts Asean summit
16/02/2016
Associated Press
President Barack Obama and the leaders of Southeast Asian nations have gathered in California for two days of talks on economic and security issues.
This is the first time the leaders of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are meeting in the US.
China is not present, but is the focus of the summit.
Obama planned to focus Monday evening's (Tuesday morning, Thailand time) talks on the economy, specifically on using innovation and entrepreneurship to promote prosperity in the region.
After a working dinner, the conversation shifts Tuesday night (Thailand time) to regional security issues, including the South China Sea and counterterrorism, before the summit concludes early Wednesday.
The summit was conceived as part of Obama's mission to raise the US profile and help set the agenda in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, where China's territorial claims over disputed waters have raised international concerns and led to friction with Asean countries.
Asean's member countries make up the seventh-largest economy in the world, the White House said. Asean countries together represent the US' fourth-largest trading partner. Trade between them tops $226 billion.
(Source here)
President Obama gave Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha a full red carpet welcome with a US Marine honour guard with the two nations' flags. (AFP photo)
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha arrived Monday at Rancho Mirage, where he was greeted by diplomats and uniformed Thai police. (Photo courtesy of Government House)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
US-Asean summit: China, trade high on agenda
15/02/2016
Reuters
RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA — US President Barack Obama will press leaders from Southeast Asia to boost trade and back common goals for the South China Sea during a summit starting on Monday that the White House hopes will solidify US influence in the region.
Mr Obama will also discuss curbing North Korea and plans to fight the Islamic State group (IS) during the two-day meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at Sunnylands, a California resort.
The visit, at the same location where Obama once hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping, is designed to demonstrate Washington's commitment both as a counterweight to Beijing and as an eager trading partner with Asean nations.
Map showing the member states of ASEAN, also known as Southeast Asia (Source: Wikipedia); Inset: Obama disembarking from Air Force One at Palm Springs before the upcoming summit with ASEAN leaders.
US PIVOT TO ASIA
It also helps cement a legacy issue for Obama, who has championed a US pivot to Asia during his presidency and is determined to present the United States as a Pacific power.
"We want to make very clear that the United States is going to be at the table and a part of setting the agenda in the Asia- Pacific in the decades to come," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters last week.
FIRST DAY: ECONOMIC ISSUES & TRADE
The first day of the summit is scheduled to focus on economic issues and trade, including discussion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, which includes four of the Asean members: Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia.
Others are interested in joining, and the White House wants to make sure the pact goes into effect.
SECOND DAY: MARITIME ISSUES
On Tuesday, the leaders will discuss maritime issues including the South China Sea, where China and several Southeast Asian states have conflicting and overlapping claims.
Mr Rhodes said Mr Obama would deliver a tough message to China that disputes over the area must be resolved peacefully.
"We will continue to underscore the principle that these issues have to be resolved consistent with international norms and not through bigger nations bullying smaller ones," he said.
CHALLENGE OF STRONG STATEMENT ON SOUTH CHINA SEA
The challenge at the summit may be to get all Asean countries to agree on a strong statement on the issue.
Analysts say China has put pressure on countries such as Cambodia and Laos not to sign on.
Pressure from Mr Obama, and a message that the United States will continue to engage with ASEAN, may counteract that.
"If the Asean leaders feel that the United States is investing in Asean ... that would encourage even the weakest, the most susceptible Asean states to sign on with their brothers to make these statements," said Ernest Bower, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"No one in Southeast Asia wants the Chinese to run roughshod over their smaller neighbours."
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/864792/obama-southeast-asia-leaders-eye-china-and-trade-at-california-summit
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/863724/us-asean-summit-promises-to-boost-relations
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