US President Barack Obama called off plans to visit Asia and attend two summits because of the US government shutdown, raising questions about the strategic “pivot” to the region that he announced just two years ago.
Obama had planned to depart today for a four-nation, week-long trip. He canceled visits to Malaysia and the Philippines earlier this week because of his budget struggle in the US Congress and said on Thursday he would not attend the regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei.
The political standoff over the US budget has shut down non-essential government services and appeared likely to drag on for another week or longer. Another crisis looms in two weeks when lawmakers must decide whether to increase the US government’s US$16.7 trillion debt borrowing limit.
Photo: AFP
“The president made this decision based on the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown, and his determination to continue pressing his case that Republicans should immediately allow a vote to reopen the government,” the White House said.
Obama was scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among other leaders.
Two of his main aims would have been to discuss the Syria crisis with Putin and to hold talks on a maritime code of conduct for disputed territories in the oil and gas-rich South China Sea.
“We are disappointed,” Indonesian Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said on the island of Bali, host of the APEC summit starting tomorrow.
“I think the summit will go on, there is a long-term plan, [but] without Obama, you can imagine how disappointed we are. We could hardly imagine he wouldn’t come,” he said.
Obama was also scheduled to attend ASEAN’s East Asia Summit in Brunei next week.
Xi, who was on a visit to Malaysia yesterday, did not comment on Obama’s decision. However, analysts said the no-show by Obama would work to China’s advantage.
“While his decision is perfectly understandable, it projects a poor image of America as a country that is politically dysfunctional and on the verge of another economic crisis,” said Ian Storey, senior fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. “Meanwhile, cash-rich and self-confident China will have the floor to itself.”
Obama twice postponed visits to Indonesia and Australia in 2010, because of a health reform bill and then because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He was absent from the APEC meeting last year in Vladivostok, Russia, because of a Democratic Party convention.
In Tokyo, Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said Abe would attend the summits as planned.
“This is a domestic problem of the United States,” he said. “We hope the [Obama] administration and Congress negotiate earnestly to solve the problem as early as possible, so that the problem won’t be affecting various issues.”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS