Obama’s Asian Tour
Documents
U.S.-China Joint
Statement Beijing, China,
Nov. 17, 2009
Joint Press
Statement by President Obama and President Hu of China Great
Hall, Beijing, China, Nov. 17, 2009
Obama’s Speech in
Tokyo Nov. 14, 2009
Polls
Survey on Taiwanese People’s
Trust in the U.S. President, Cross-Strait Leaders and Major Political Parties
and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s Approval Rating (GVSRC, Nov. 23, 2009) 52.9 percent of Taiwanese say Obama is
friendly toward Taiwan; meanwhile, President Ma’s approval rating this month
is 28.3 percent.
2009 News; Papers
[ News ] [
Papers ]
2009
MAC Downplays Controversy
over US-China Statement
(Taipei Times, Nov. 19, 2009) MAC Chairwoman Lai
Shin-yuan tried to put to rest a controversy sparked
by a joint statement issued after talks between US President Barack Obama and
Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Taiwan Welcomes Obama’s
Mention of Taiwan Relations Act
(DPA, Nov. 17, 2009) Taiwan welcomed US President
Obama’s mentioning the Taiwan Relations Act in his Beijing speech, seeing it
as Washington’s assurance it would heed Taipei’s defense needs.
Obama Wades into Internet
Censorship in China Address
(New York Times, Nov. 17, 2009) President Barack
Obama held a town hall meeting with university students in Shanghai,
but Mr. Obama’s question-and-answer session was not broadcast live on China’s
official state network.
Obama, Japanese Premier at
Odds over Air Station Negotiations
(Washington
Post, Nov. 17, 2009) The wrestling match between the United States and Japan
over the location of the U.S. Marine air station in Okinawa is far from
over—despite President Obama's chummy visit here with Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama.
Obama Begins Four-Nation
Asian Tour in Japan
(AFP, Nov. 14, 2009) US President Barack Obama
insisted that the US was a
“Pacific” power and vowed to deepen engagement in the region as he set foot
in Asia for the first time as president.
No Change to Arms Policy: US
Officials
(Taipei Times,
Nov. 8, 2009) James Steinberg, speaking at the Center for American Progress,
said that US commitment to
Taiwan
was very clear under the TRA and that the Obama administration would continue
to respect the act.
Obama Firm on Taiwan: Aide
(AFP, Nov.6, 2009) President Barack Obama, set
for a mission to China
this month to boost warming ties, will stay firm on the US policy of supporting but not recognizing
rival Taiwan,
an aide said.
The Perils of Ignoring
China—Teddy Roosevelt’s Lessons for Obama By
James Bradley (FoxNews,
Nov. 16, 2010)
The first and best step to dealing with China is to
acknowledge it as an equal—not in terms of quantifiable statistics, but on
the qualitative. Hopefully Barack Obama’s misreading of Asia
will not have the disastrous long-term impact of Theodore Roosevelt’s.
Hedged Bets on China By
Fareed Zakaria
(Washington
Post, Nov. 15, 2010) Obama’s visit to Asia
had broader purposes and was largely successful at those, though this is just
the start of a complex set of foreign policies that should constitute the
core of a new American grand strategy.
US in Asia: Seeking Partners
at a Troubled Time—Part II By Bruce Stokes (Yale Global, Nov. 12, 2010) Growing trade and careful
coordination on global economic issues have benefited the US and its partners
in the past and can do so again, but the failure to sign the Korea-US free
trade agreement is not a good omen.
Obama Ends G-20 Summit with
Criticism of China By Sewel Chan
(New York Times, Nov. 13, 2010) G-20 did not act
as assertively as President Obama had hoped, and he left little
doubt that he considered one country, China, the primary source of the
problem.
US in Asia: Seeking Partners
at a Troubled Time—Part II By Bruce Stokes (Yale Global, Nov. 12, 2010) Growing trade and careful
coordination on global economic issues have benefited the US and its partners
in the past and can do so again, but the failure to sign the Korea-US free
trade agreement is not a good omen.
Stalled South Korea Trade
Deal Is Setback for Obama By Sheryl Gay Stolberg (New York Times, Nov. 12, 2010) Analysts say the free trade
accord is an important underpinning for other deals the administration is
seeking, including a regional agreement with Asia-Pacific nations
Obama and China Play Rival
Suitors to Indonesia By Norimitsu Onishi (New York Times, Nov. 10, 2010) The Chinese announcement’s
emphasis on roads, bridges and canals — not to mention its timing — laid down
a not-so-subtle challenge to Mr. Obama: Show your Indonesian hosts the money.
Countering China, Obama
Backs India for U.N. Council By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Yardley (New York
Times, Nov. 9, 2010) By endorsing India for a permanent seat on
the United Nations Security Council, President Obama signaled the
United States’ intention to create a deeper partnership of the world’s two
largest democracies that would expand commercial ties and check the influence
of an increasingly assertive China.
U.S.-China Relationship
Shifts toward Deep Mistrust By Keith B. Richburg (Washington
Post, Nov. 7, 2010) What happened over the past year, experts agree, was a
case of heightened expectations on both sides crashing into realities on the
ground.
Obama in India: Taking the
Partnership Global By Teresita C. Schaffer (Yale Global,
Nov. 5, 2010) China’s increasingly assertive posture on issues ranging from
visa restrictions for Indians to China’s territorial claims in the South China
Sea inevitably give greater immediacy to the U.S.-India conversation, but
it's fundamentally an expression of common interests that do not rest on
hostility toward other Asian powers.
Anticipating Obama’s Visit to Indonesia and
Australia By Andrew MacIntyre (PacNet #10, Pacific Forum, CSIS, Mar. 12, 2010) Along
with the surges of goodwill that will greet Obama in both Indonesia and
Australia, there will also be opportunities to advance common causes in the
region and globally.
2009
Obama More Accommodating to
China: Scholar
(CNA, Nov. 29, 2009) The United States has been
more accommodating to China
under President Barack Obama than under his predecessors because Washington needs the help of Beijing
more than vice versa, a China
expert observed.
Taiwan Still the Sorest Point
in Fragile Sino-US Relations By Chen Ping (Global Times, Nov. 25, 2009) If we buy into the high profile
media coverage, both domestic and international, of the Obama trip, we might
easily draw some rosy conclusions. However, if we take into consideration the
Taiwan
question, our optimism should be muted.
US Policy on Taiwan
Unchanged: AIT
(Taipei Times, Nov. 25, 2009) AIT Chairman
Raymond Burghardt reassured President Ma Ying-jeou that US
policy on Taiwan remained
unchanged, including its position on Taiwan’s
sovereignty and commitment to help Taiwan meet its defense needs.
Obama-Hu Statement: Taiwan
Loses By Joseph Wu
(Taipei Times,
Nov. 25, 2009) References to Taiwan
in the statement suggest that the situation is evolving in a direction
unfavorable to the country. In view of this, the government of President Ma
Ying-jeou should immediately seek clarification
from Washington
and try to remedy the situation.
Assessing the China Trip
(Editorial, New York Times, Nov. 21, 2009)
President Obama has faced a fair amount of criticism for his China
trip. The trip wasn’t all that we had hoped it would be, but some of the
complaints are premature.
Barack Obama Visit Signals
New Era of US-China Relations
By Peter Foster (Telegraph, Nov. 21, 2009) The "Joint Statement" is now
being hailed as the most significant step forward in US-China relations since
Richard Nixon reopened relations 30 years ago.
Three Key Lessons from
Obama’s China Tour By Tony Karon
(Time, Nov. 21, 2009) Three key lessons to draw
from the visit: China’s star has risen and America’s has ebbed, but the U.S.
is “too big to fail;” China doesn’t want to run the world but it has
interests differing from America’s; personal chemistry can’t change the
world.
Obama in Asia—Part III By
Shen Dingli
(YaleGlobal, Nov. 20,
2009) US President Obama’s
recent trip to China
reveals the ways in which US-China relations might be changing. The
tenor of the trip showed that China’s
status has risen as the US
appears to be accepting China’s
terms of the relationship.
In Obama Interview, Signs of
China’s Heavy Hand By Sharon LaFraniere and Jonathan Ansfield (New York Times,
Nov. 20, 2009) Chinese authorities appeared to carefully monitor how
President Obama’s words were transmitted to China’s public, even in a
newspaper known for its press-the-envelope approach.
Obama’s Story Infused Asia
Tour By Anne E. Komblut
(Washington
Post, Nov. 19, 2009) After more than a week of using his biography to connect
to audiences in Asia, Obama appeared as
popular as ever among ordinary citizens in the region. But is his
biography-as-diplomacy approach beginning to show its limits?
In Obama’s China Trip, a
Stark Contrast with the Past By Andrew Higgins and Anne E. Kornblut (Washington Post, Nov. 18, 2009)
Obama's trip stood in stark contrast to visits by his predecessors. But this
reflected not so much a policy shift by a new administration in Washington as a
dramatic and much bigger change in the power dynamic.
China Holds Firm on Major
Issues in Obama’s Visit By Helene Cooper (New York Times, Nov. 18, 2009) In six hours of meetings, at two
dinners and during a stilted 30-minute news conference, President Obama was
confronted, on his first visit, with a fast-rising China more willing to say
no to the United States.
Obama in Asia—Part II By
Kavi Chongkittavorn
(YaleGlobal, Nov. 18,
2009) For now Obama’s willingness to consult and listen has earned the US
much goodwill in Asean. Most of all, his call for
collaboration rather than battling for influence fits well with Asean’s mandate.
Obama, Hu Vow to Continue to
Strengthen Partnership By Keith B. Richburg (Washington
Post, Nov. 17, 2009) President Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, emerged from two
hours of talks pledging to continue efforts to strengthen the growing
partnership between the two countries, and to work together to address global
challenges.
Obama in Asia—Part I By
Francois Godement
(YaleGlobal, Nov. 16,
2009) The talk of a “strategic partnership” between China and the US
making a G2 has Europe scared. But, there
are too many differences between China
and the US
to warrant the type of political convergence necessary for a G2 to work.
China’s Role As U.S. Lender
Alters Dynamics for Obama By Helene Cooper, Michael
Wines and David E. Sanger
(New York Times, Nov. 15, 2009) When President Obama visits China
for the first time on Sunday, he will, in many ways, be assuming the role of
profligate spender coming to pay his respects to his banker.
Let’s Go: Asia, the
Presidential Edition By Carlos Lozada
(Washington
Post, Nov. 15, 2009) All the major think tanks have inundated e-mail inboxes
around town with briefing papers, Q&As and op-eds offering their advice. A look at them reveals three
challenges that the experts think Obama must tackle.
Obama Says U.S. Seeking
Broader Engagement with Asia By Julianna Glodman and Edwin Chen (Bloomberg, Nov.
14, 2009) President Barack Obama promised broader engagement with Asia,
staking a U.S. claim in shaping the future development of a region that is
leading the world out of recession. Obama’s Speech in Tokyo
‘Strategic Reassurance’ That
Isn’t By Robert Kagan and Dan Blumenthal (Washington Post, Nov. 10,
2009) Obama's trip this week seems designed to demonstrate American staying
power, and China isn’t likely to end or slow its efforts to militarily and
economically dominate the region. So it will quickly become obvious that no
one on either side feels reassured.
Obama Confronts an Asia
Reshaped by China’s Rise By Charles Hutzler
(AP, Nov. 9, 2009) This is not the kind of Asia or Asia-Pacific of America's
traditional understanding. That old understanding is that America is dominant but friendly to the
developing nations and Japan,
America's
perpetual ally, is No. 1. Asia is now totally different and China is the No. 1, not Japan.
Pitfalls and Possibilities
in Obama’s Taiwan Line By Nat Bellocchi
(Taipei Times, Nov. 9, 2009) Obama has the
advantage of being at the start of a new chapter in relations with both
Taiwan and China. He is relatively unburdened by the inhibitions of the past,
and has the freedom to do some out-of-the-box thinking.
U.S. Is Reaching Out to East
Asia’s Powerful Nations By John Pomfret (Washington
Post, Nov. 7, 2009) Paal and other analysts said
the most important issue is trade as Asian nations have dropped barriers
among themselves while the United
States has failed to act.
Obama Goes to Asia:
Understanding the President’s Trip
(Brookings, Nov. 6, 2009) Jeffrey Bader, special
assistant to the president and senior director for East Asian affairs on the
National Security Council, provided a keynote address outlining the White
House’s strategy for the trip to Asia.
Don’t Concede More on Taiwan By
Hisahiko Okazaki
(Taipei Times, Nov. 6, 2009) As for Obama’s trip,
it would be best not to go beyond the three joint communiques
that have long defined US-China relations. The Obama administration should
never accept a change from “not support” to “oppose.”
Trading Away the Asia-Pacific
(Wall Street Journal, Oct. 27, 2009) With China
angling for regional leadership, the U.S. can't afford to be seen as
an unreliable economic partner. Mr. Obama needs to reassert U.S. leadership in Asia,
starting with trade.
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