US President Barack Obama will make his debut Asian tour next month, visiting Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea for a flurry of talks on pressing economic issues, trade and global security.
The trip will mark Obama’s most testing foray yet into the vital US relationship with top Asian powers and see him push for backing on key foreign policy priorities, including the nuclear showdowns with North Korea and Iran.
It will not include a visit to Indonesia, however, where he spent four childhood years, a period he has often referenced fondly in speeches and in his outreach to the Muslim world.
Obama will leave behind a packed and sometimes troubled domestic agenda when he leaves Washington on Nov. 11 and remains in the region for eight days.
“The president ... will be traveling to Asia next month to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the world on a range of issues of mutual interest,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Obama will touch down first in Japan, then attend the APEC forum summit in Singapore.
He will hold what the White House billed as the first formal talks between a US leader and all 10 ASEAN leaders — which could include a rare encounter with Myanmar’s military rulers.
The president will then visit Beijing and Shanghai and make a last stop in South Korea.
Obama has made strenuous personal efforts to set a new US direction toward Europe, the Middle East and Latin America and is yet to devote similar time to Asia, but his emerging regional policy is rich in diplomatic engagement and is aimed at containing the North Korean nuclear threat, improving ties with China and maintaining warm US relations with allies South Korea and Japan.
Obama has also decided to reverse US policy and engage Myanmar, following the failure of previous policies which included both sanctions and incentives for the military-ruled country to embrace democracy.
The White House said Obama’s Tokyo visit between Nov. 12 and Nov. 13 would include his second round of talks with new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama after the two men met at the UN last month.
He will then be in Singapore between Nov. 13 to Nov. 15 for APEC and ASEAN talks and one-on-one talks with regional leaders.
Obama’s visit to China between Nov. 15 and Nov. 18 will include his first visits as president to Beijing and the booming metropolis of Shanghai, and a third set of talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
The president will wrap up his visit to Asia in Seoul between Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 when North Korea’s nuclear challenge and the US nuclear alliance will dominate talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
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