The US is not in competition with China for Asian hearts and minds, a senior US official said in remarks published yesterday, but is keen to deepen ties with Indonesia.
US President Barack Obama has twice delayed trips to Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, but the US will not lose ground to China in the region, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told the Singapore-based Straits Times.
“We do not see this as a zero sum competition for hearts and minds with China,” Campbell said.
“Indeed, most countries in Southeast Asia would clearly articulate that desire to avoid this kind of narrow competition between the two states,” he said.
US President Barack Obama’s administration has made Indonesia one of its top diplomatic priorities, pointing to its moderate brand of Islam and rapid democratization since the 1990s.
DELAY
However, the US leader was forced to postpone his trip last month — already delayed once — until June to push through his ambitious health care reform agenda from Washington.
“We’d like very much to see a profoundly deeper relationship between the US and Indonesia that perhaps would fall along the kind of progression we’ve seen between the US and India that began about a decade ago,” Campbell said.
CHINESE VISIT
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) is due to visit Indonesia this month, fueling speculation about a race for influence between Washington and Beijing in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia has a population of more than 230 million people and is seen as a key potential market and trading partner for both powers.
Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia in the late 1960s, an experience he has said helped shape his view of the world.
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