Running through the worldwide acclaim for US president-elect Barack Obama last week have been several threads of Asian skepticism, appeals and even threats.
Chinese leaders sent congratulations that included a subtle reminder that they expected Obama to acknowledge their contentious claim to Taiwan. On the day Americans voted, the Chinese issued a policy paper on Latin America that the US has long considered its backyard.
A senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official, Yang Wanming (楊萬明), said the paper proposed “enhancing military cooperation” between China and Latin American countries. On the same day, China put on display for the first time its indigenous J10 jet fighter at an air show.
A commentator in the government-controlled China Daily urged Obama “to recharter an American foreign policy that will move away from pre-emptive doctrine to one of resolving nation-to-nation disputes on the table and to embrace more consultation on the world arena while avoiding confrontations.”
Across the Taiwan Strait, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) weighed in with an appeal that “the long friendship between the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan) will continue to strengthen and grow,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
But a spokeswoman for the Democratic Progressive Party, Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), was dubious of Obama, saying: “The Republicans have leaned more toward Taiwan while the Democrats have leaned more toward China.”
She pointed to former president Bill Clinton’s siding with China on the Taiwan issue.
From Japanese commentators flowed considerable anxiety. The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest daily, said: “So far, Obama has talked only in generalities.”
The paper worried that he would be protectionist. The Asahi Shimbun, a leftist paper, said that for Japanese, Obama was an “unknown quantity.”
Yoshihisa Komori, a columnist at the conservative Sankei Shimbun, called Obama “a frighteningly unknown politician” who would rely less on traditional alliances, such as with Japan, and more on international organizations in foreign policy.
In South Korea, the largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, applauded Obama’s election, but added: “Yet Obama has shortcomings, such as scant diplomatic experience and no administrative career. He is also inclined to protectionist trade policies on behalf of the US economy.”
Filipinos split on Obama’s stance on the 600 US troops posted in the southern Philippines to help the Philippine Armed Forces fight Moro insurgents. Some urged Obama to keep the troops there, others urged him to withdraw them.
The Thai daily Nation quoted Obama thus: “Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states.”
The paper then lamented the bitter “red and yellow” divisions in Thailand today, wishing they “could correspond to blue and red in the US.”
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he had written to Obama: “Many issues will claim your attention. May I make a case for the importance of Southeast Asia to the US, a region which is not unfamiliar to you,” referring to Obama’s childhood in Indonesia. A writer for the Straits Times, however, was skeptical of Obama’s emphasis on hope: “Alas, I’m not sure hope is enough.”
In New Delhi, the Times of India commented: “Obama will be a breath of fresh air in almost every part of the world … Why, then, is India keeping her fingers crossed?” The paper said: “There is little clarity on how the chips will fall on several issues … Pakistan, China, terrorism, nuclear issues, trade, all issues on which India has had a prickly relationship with the Democratic Party.”
In the Australian, columnist Greg Sheridan wrote: “For Australia, Obama is a very mixed bag. Despite a couple of years in Indonesia as a kid, Obama has little knowledge of, or interest, in Asia.” Pointing to US President George W. Bush’s support for Australia, the article concluded: “Don’t expect Obama to be anywhere near as mindful of Australia.”
Indonesian students in an elementary school in the Menteng section of Jakarta, which Obama attended as a child, watched election returns on TV, then erupted into the schoolyard to dance in the rain and shout “Obama, we love you.”
Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.
In recent weeks, Taiwan has witnessed a surge of public anxiety over the possible introduction of Indian migrant workers. What began as a policy signal from the Ministry of Labor quickly escalated into a broader controversy. Petitions gathered thousands of signatures within days, political figures issued strong warnings, and social media became saturated with concerns about public safety and social stability. At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward policy question: Should Taiwan introduce Indian migrant workers or not? However, this framing is misleading. The current debate is not fundamentally about India. It is about Taiwan’s labor system, its
Japan’s imminent easing of arms export rules has sparked strong interest from Warsaw to Manila, Reuters reporting found, as US President Donald Trump wavers on security commitments to allies, and the wars in Iran and Ukraine strain US weapons supplies. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling party approved the changes this week as she tries to invigorate the pacifist country’s military industrial base. Her government would formally adopt the new rules as soon as this month, three Japanese government officials told Reuters. Despite largely isolating itself from global arms markets since World War II, Japan spends enough on its own
On March 31, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released declassified diplomatic records from 1995 that drew wide domestic media attention. One revelation stood out: North Korea had once raised the possibility of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In a meeting with visiting Chinese officials in May 1995, as then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) prepared for a visit to South Korea, North Korean officials objected to Beijing’s growing ties with Seoul and raised Taiwan directly. According to the newly released records, North Korean officials asked why Pyongyang should refrain from developing relations with Taiwan while China and South Korea were expanding high-level
Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on April 9 said that the first group of Indian workers could arrive as early as this year as part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India and the India Taipei Association. Signed in February 2024, the MOU stipulates that Taipei would decide the number of migrant workers and which industries would employ them, while New Delhi would manage recruitment and training. Employment would be governed by the laws of both countries. Months after its signing, the two sides agreed that 1,000 migrant workers from India would
RSS