Events Calendar
In This Section
National news briefs - Nov. 28
Report says diabetes cases, costs to climb
White House tree arrives in style
Expiring health subsidy imperils unemployed
Shuttle Atlantis safely back in Florida
Experts: Swine flu mutation infecting select few
Military divorces increase during war
U.S. delays new ban on Internet gambling
Most Read Stories
Redesigned Ohio license plate is busy but better
Hotel clerk shot in Stark County
FBI says Falls man admits to making devices
Black Friday shopping is a marathon for a Portage County family
Cavs star pays for girl's funeral
Akron police seeking suspect in stabbing
Zips' tournament soccer game sold out
2 siblings arrested in attempted break-in
Police say Cuyahoga Falls man used woman's cell phone to stalk her
Blogs:
Pets:
Strip club owner's dog pound in Newt Gingrich's name opens
The Heldenfiles:
Happy Thanksgiving
Patrick McManamon:
A holiday wish
Akron Zips:
Akron vs. Stanford Men's Soccer Game Sold Out
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Ryan won't fall on his sword
Kent State Sports:
Kent State falls to Buffalo in season finale, 9-6
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Charlotte Bobcats
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeye Football – Present and Future
Varsity Letters:
Gridlocks Playoff Edition Week 4
All Da King's Men:
Change, As Usual
Blog of Mass Destruction:
New 9-11 News
Akron Law Café:
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
What Automotive Thing Are You Thankful For?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Happy Thanks for giving!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jeanne inquires – what is the best place to see Amish country?
Sound Check:
On The Town: Top Entertainment Picks
HRLite House:
Genetic Discrimination
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
President to kick off foreign-policy trip as issues mount at home
By Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
Published on Sunday, Nov 08, 2009
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will leave the country for a four-nation tour of Asia starting Thursday despite a host of domestic concerns, including the massacre at Fort Hood, a sharply rising jobless rate, his health-care legislation stalled in the Senate and his Afghanistan troop decision still pending.
He planned his trip around the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, but added stops in Japan, China and South Korea. The itinerary reflects the growing importance of East Asia — especially China — to everything from financing U.S. debt and powering the global economic recovery to climate change, disease control and containing nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.
Asia's importance in global affairs rose over the past decade as U.S. foreign policy was dominated by the war on terror, and as U.S. domestic spending and borrowing from foreign countries spiraled.
''These phenomena have persuaded many Asians that the U.S. is overextended and distracted'' and a declining power, said Jeff Bader, the National Security Council's senior director for East Asian Affairs.
Obama intends to use his trip to counter those doubts.
''I think it will be vividly clear for the peoples of Asia that the U.S. is here to stay in Asia,'' Bader said. ''The U.S. will be a player and participant on the ground floor, not a distant spectator.''
Overlapping futures
China, the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion people — and the most important one on this trip — holds more U.S. debt than any other country. Japan, a U.S. security ally, is the second-largest U.S. creditor.
''Look at the large picture of things, of what places matter to the United States, think about it in terms of the economic weight of Asia these days, of where the world's population lives, of where the rising powers are: all of that is taking place in Asia,'' said Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
''These are the economies that are going to drive the world economy increasingly. This is the dynamic part of the world. And our future as a nation is tied heavily in every respect to that part of the world.''
Obama won't visit India, the other rising Asian power, or Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, where he spent part of his childhood. He's planning a separate, more personal trip later to Indonesia, and India will be the first nation he honors with a state dinner at the White House, on Nov. 24, days after his return.
Pressing issues
The Asia venture will bring to 20 the number of countries that Obama has visited in his first year in office, a presidential record.
It also will come weeks before an international gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark, to seek a global treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States hasn't committed itself to caps on emissions that cause global warming and so isn't in a position to browbeat China, a fast-rising global economic power and the world's top polluter, into agreeing to any.
Obama may try to allay criticism of inaction by announcing joint conservation and alternative energy projects with Asian partners.
Obama enjoys high popularity in Japan, China and South Korea, and he hopes that will buy him goodwill despite policy disagreements and a growing desire in the region to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Asia, more than six decades after the end of World War II.
Obama and Chinese officials have a long list of topics to discuss: the economy, Afghanistan and Pakistan, arms control, North Korea and Iran, climate change and clean energy, as well as the thornier issues of human rights, democracy, religious freedom, the Dalai Lama, the rule of law and censorship in China.
U.S. business concerns include software piracy, counterfeiting, consumer safety, defective or contaminated products, and loss of American jobs and manufacturing.
For the Chinese, Obama's tariffs on their tire exports raise questions about his commitment to free trade.
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will leave the country for a four-nation tour of Asia starting Thursday despite a host of domestic concerns, including the massacre at Fort Hood, a sharply rising jobless rate, his health-care legislation stalled in the Senate and his Afghanistan troop decision still pending.
He planned his trip around the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, but added stops in Japan, China and South Korea. The itinerary reflects the growing importance of East Asia — especially China — to everything from financing U.S. debt and powering the global economic recovery to climate change, disease control and containing nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.
Asia's importance in global affairs rose over the past decade as U.S. foreign policy was dominated by the war on terror, and as U.S. domestic spending and borrowing from foreign countries spiraled.
''These phenomena have persuaded many Asians that the U.S. is overextended and distracted'' and a declining power, said Jeff Bader, the National Security Council's senior director for East Asian Affairs.
Obama intends to use his trip to counter those doubts.
''I think it will be vividly clear for the peoples of Asia that the U.S. is here to stay in Asia,'' Bader said. ''The U.S. will be a player and participant on the ground floor, not a distant spectator.''
Overlapping futures
China, the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion people — and the most important one on this trip — holds more U.S. debt than any other country. Japan, a U.S. security ally, is the second-largest U.S. creditor.
''Look at the large picture of things, of what places matter to the United States, think about it in terms of the economic weight of Asia these days, of where the world's population lives, of where the rising powers are: all of that is taking place in Asia,'' said Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
''These are the economies that are going to drive the world economy increasingly. This is the dynamic part of the world. And our future as a nation is tied heavily in every respect to that part of the world.''
Obama won't visit India, the other rising Asian power, or Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, where he spent part of his childhood. He's planning a separate, more personal trip later to Indonesia, and India will be the first nation he honors with a state dinner at the White House, on Nov. 24, days after his return.
Pressing issues
The Asia venture will bring to 20 the number of countries that Obama has visited in his first year in office, a presidential record.
It also will come weeks before an international gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark, to seek a global treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States hasn't committed itself to caps on emissions that cause global warming and so isn't in a position to browbeat China, a fast-rising global economic power and the world's top polluter, into agreeing to any.
Obama may try to allay criticism of inaction by announcing joint conservation and alternative energy projects with Asian partners.
Obama enjoys high popularity in Japan, China and South Korea, and he hopes that will buy him goodwill despite policy disagreements and a growing desire in the region to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Asia, more than six decades after the end of World War II.
Obama and Chinese officials have a long list of topics to discuss: the economy, Afghanistan and Pakistan, arms control, North Korea and Iran, climate change and clean energy, as well as the thornier issues of human rights, democracy, religious freedom, the Dalai Lama, the rule of law and censorship in China.
U.S. business concerns include software piracy, counterfeiting, consumer safety, defective or contaminated products, and loss of American jobs and manufacturing.
For the Chinese, Obama's tariffs on their tire exports raise questions about his commitment to free trade.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
New Philadelphia, OH
Posted 06:32 AM, 11/10/2009
When will this guy stay in the Oval office and work on our countries problems????? It seems like every week you read that he is out somewhere flying around the globe!!!! Stay put and work on our problems!!!!
