THE US AND ASIA

MR. OBAMA'S FOCUS ON ASIA

The Japan Times, November 24, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama has concluded a three-country Southeast Asia tour designed to punctuate his administration's intention to focus on Asia. The intentions are good and the strategy is correct: Asia deserves a more prominent place in U.S. thinking and planning.

But the realities of governing conspired to overshadow Mr. Obama's intent: A crisis in the Gaza Strip and the prospect of a fiscal crisis in the United States distracted the president from his pledge to focus more attention on Asia.

Mr. Obama visited Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia on his first trip after winning re-election.

In Bangkok, he strengthened his country's alliance with Thailand, and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her country was prepared to begin negotiations on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

In a gesture that meant much to the country's residents, Mr. Obama visited Thailand's ailing 84-year-old king in the hospital.

From there Mr. Obama went to Myanmar, marking the first visit ever by a U.S. president to that country. He met President Thein Sein and encouraged him to continue his country's efforts toward political and economic reform.

Mr. Obama announced a new mission from the U.S. Agency for International Development and pledged a two-year aid package worth $170 million.

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