Obama Arrives to High Hopes at Asian Summit
SINGAPORE — President Obama arrived in Singapore Saturday night for a meeting of Asian-Pacific countries seeking to ensure that the fast-growing region remains firmly cemented to the United States, despite disparities in economic growth and the rising influence of China.
Mr. Obama, in Singapore for his first summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, arrived here a few hours early, in time to attend the tail end of a leaders’ dinner before plunging Sunday into a day of meet-and-greets with regional leaders. At the top of Mr. Obama’s schedule: a meeting with President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia.
Mr. Obama will be trying to convince Russia not to break with America’s Iran policy, as the United States and its Western allies decide whether the time has come for stronger sanctions to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The two men will also discuss a key arms control treaty between the two countries that is set to expire next month.
The United States and Russia have been negotiating a replacement for the pact, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, which expires on Dec. 5, although it look increasingly unlikely that the ongoing talks will produce a new agreement by then.
After his meeting with Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Obama will attend a symbolically important regional meeting of Southeast Asian nations, in which Myanmar’s government will also be present. Mr. Obama, who has made a point of his willingness to engage with adversaries, spotlighted that for the first time, an American president would be at the table with Myanmar’s military junta. But he has also called on the government to release the leader of the country’s beleaguered democracy movement, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
APEC summits are not known for accomplishing much that is substantive. Many years, the most memorable moments include the photo ops, in which leaders wear matching, colorful shirts. And often communiqués issued on dismantling trade barriers are undermined by the attendee countries almost as soon as they are signed.
This year’s meeting promises more of the same, complete with charges and counter-charges of protectionism.
President Felipe Calderón of Mexico got things going early Saturday when he lashed out at what he called politically driven protectionism in the United States. He complained that Congressional coddling of the Teamsters has prevented the United States from opening its borders to Mexican trucks, which it was supposed to do years ago after it signed onto NAFTA.
“Protectionism is killing North American companies,” Mr. Calderón said in Singapore. “The American government is facing political pressure that has not been counteracted.”
Mr. Obama is coming to Singapore subject to high expectations, which may be difficult to meet. For instance, while Mr. Obama has spoken about reducing trade barriers, he also talked during his speech in Tokyo Saturday of making sure that the United States and Asia don’t go back to a cycle — which he termed “imbalanced” — where American consumerism causes Asians to look at the United States as mainly an export market.
There are also high hopes among American companies and some Asian countries that the United States will commit to joining a regional trading group called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Although Mr. Obama did open the door during his speech in Tokyo on Asia policy, he did not explicitly say that the United States will join the pact.
He spoke, instead, of “engaging the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries with the goal of shaping a regional agreement that will have broad-based membership and the high standards worthy of a 21st century trade agreement.”
That line left many trade envoys already in Singapore scratching their heads: did Mr. Obama mean that the United States would commit to joining the regional trade pact, which would include Singapore, Peru, New Zealand, and Vietnam, among other countries? Many regional officials have been waiting for the United States to join the initiative as a demonstration that America will play a more active role in the region.
White House officials were not much clearer when they were pressed on this after Mr. Obama’s speech. Michael Froman, an economics expert on the National Security Council, said that what Mr. Obama meant was that he would engage with the initiative “to see if this is something that could prove to be an important platform going further.”
SINGAPORE — President Obama arrived in Singapore Saturday night for a meeting of Asian-Pacific countries seeking to ensure that the fast-growing region remains firmly cemented to the United States, despite disparities in economic growth and the rising influence of China.
Mr. Obama, in Singapore for his first summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, arrived here a few hours early, in time to attend the tail end of a leaders’ dinner before plunging Sunday into a day of meet-and-greets with regional leaders. At the top of Mr. Obama’s schedule: a meeting with President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia.
Mr. Obama will be trying to convince Russia not to break with America’s Iran policy, as the United States and its Western allies decide whether the time has come for stronger sanctions to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The two men will also discuss a key arms control treaty between the two countries that is set to expire next month.
The United States and Russia have been negotiating a replacement for the pact, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, which expires on Dec. 5, although it look increasingly unlikely that the ongoing talks will produce a new agreement by then.
After his meeting with Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Obama will attend a symbolically important regional meeting of Southeast Asian nations, in which Myanmar’s government will also be present. Mr. Obama, who has made a point of his willingness to engage with adversaries, spotlighted that for the first time, an American president would be at the table with Myanmar’s military junta. But he has also called on the government to release the leader of the country’s beleaguered democracy movement, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
APEC summits are not known for accomplishing much that is substantive. Many years, the most memorable moments include the photo ops, in which leaders wear matching, colorful shirts. And often communiqués issued on dismantling trade barriers are undermined by the attendee countries almost as soon as they are signed.
This year’s meeting promises more of the same, complete with charges and counter-charges of protectionism.
President Felipe Calderón of Mexico got things going early Saturday when he lashed out at what he called politically driven protectionism in the United States. He complained that Congressional coddling of the Teamsters has prevented the United States from opening its borders to Mexican trucks, which it was supposed to do years ago after it signed onto NAFTA.
“Protectionism is killing North American companies,” Mr. Calderón said in Singapore. “The American government is facing political pressure that has not been counteracted.”
Mr. Obama is coming to Singapore subject to high expectations, which may be difficult to meet. For instance, while Mr. Obama has spoken about reducing trade barriers, he also talked during his speech in Tokyo Saturday of making sure that the United States and Asia don’t go back to a cycle — which he termed “imbalanced” — where American consumerism causes Asians to look at the United States as mainly an export market.
There are also high hopes among American companies and some Asian countries that the United States will commit to joining a regional trading group called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Although Mr. Obama did open the door during his speech in Tokyo on Asia policy, he did not explicitly say that the United States will join the pact.
He spoke, instead, of “engaging the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries with the goal of shaping a regional agreement that will have broad-based membership and the high standards worthy of a 21st century trade agreement.”
That line left many trade envoys already in Singapore scratching their heads: did Mr. Obama mean that the United States would commit to joining the regional trade pact, which would include Singapore, Peru, New Zealand, and Vietnam, among other countries? Many regional officials have been waiting for the United States to join the initiative as a demonstration that America will play a more active role in the region.
White House officials were not much clearer when they were pressed on this after Mr. Obama’s speech. Michael Froman, an economics expert on the National Security Council, said that what Mr. Obama meant was that he would engage with the initiative “to see if this is something that could prove to be an important platform going further.”
Source: New York Times
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