Intro:
US President Barack Obama is set to leave Washington behind this weekend as he heads to Asia on Sunday for a week-long trip to the region. He’ll begin in China, holding a bilateral meeting with President Xi and attending the APEC summit, before stopping in Myanmar to meet Thein Sein and attend the US ASEAN meeting. And the visit will end in Australia, where he’ll make a major speech on Asia policy while attending the G20 summit in Brisbane. Our Washington correspondent Lorna Shaddick takes a look at how the recent midterm elections in the US might affect his visit.
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Script:
It's he end of a difficult week for Barack Obama. After the Republicans won big in the midterm elections, he met with their new majority leaders in the House AND Senate to discuss policy directions for the next two years… wanting to show some control over the agenda… and over the direction of the economy.
SOT – Barack Obama, US President
As I travel to Asia for the G20 summit, I’m going to be able to say that we’ve actually created more jobs here in the United States than every other advanced country combined.
That show of strength from the President isn’t just important at home – as he heads to the Asia Pacific, he’ll want to show he’s not a lame duck, but still a man with the power to get things done.
And that starts in China. Since President Obama's meeting with President Xi last June, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Washington’s relationship with Beijing - as Secretary of State John Kerry made clear in a recent speech in the American capital.
SOT – John Kerry, US Secretary of State (Washington, 4th November 2014)
We do not simply agree to disagree when it comes to maritime security, especially in the South and East China Seas. // We’ve been very clear about how strongly we object to any cyber-enabled theft of trade secrets and other sensitive information from our companies. // And we certainly do not agree to disagree when it comes to human rights. //
With Mr. Kerry already in China to meet APEC foreign ministers, Republicans in Congress are keen for those issues to be brought up – and it’s likely the President will raise them - here's Dr. Ely Ratner, of the Center for a New American Security:
SOT – Dr Ely Ratner, Deputy Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program, Center for a New American Security
I think the administration is approaching this, and particularly the meetings with China, as not a historic meeting that will bring about a new era in US-China relations, but rather a very workmanlike meeting to roll up their sleeves and try to find some practical outcomes to real problems rather than big frameworks and big conceptual ideas.
Two years after his last visit, President Obama will then head on to Myanmar, where human right will also be on the agenda. But in addition, the country’s hosting the US-ASEAN summit.
President Obama was forced to miss the last one because of the US government shutdown – exacerbated by the same party that now controls Congress… but this time round, that party could actually help him when it comes to trade with Asia. Here's Dr. Ely Ratner:
SOT – Dr Ely Ratner, Deputy Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program, Center for a New American Security
The big missing component of the rebalancing policy so far is a major economic initiative. And one of the perhaps biggest foreign policy outcomes of the midterm elections may be greater support in the US Congress for the Trans Pacific Partnership initiative, and in particular to grant the President Trade Promotion Authority. So if the Republican Congress in fact is able to move that through, that could be a huge part of the President’s legacy, so again in an odd way he may be going into that meeting stronger than otherwise.
President Obama’s setting off for Asia at a difficult time – not only because of the recent drubbing his party took in the polls, but also because of the perception among Asian leaders that what with Isis, Ebola, Ukraine and the Middle East, the so-called pivot is a policy in name only. When he gives a big Asia policy speech in Brisbane next week, that’ll be his chance to reassure them, and prove that the rebalance really will be part of his presidential legacy. Lorna Shaddick, Washington.