Sea rows ‘central issue’ in Obama’s Asian visit
WASHINGTON – Territorial disputes will be a “central issue” when US President Barack Obama meets Asian leaders next week, the White House said Thursday, but downplayed hopes for a “code of conduct” to ease tensions.
As he prepares for his long trip to Asia, Obama has also opened an intense campaign to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP) with 11 other Pacific Rim nations – the Philippines not included – as a way to lower tariffs, open world markets and build middle-class jobs, a New York
Times report said. Restrictive provisions in its Constitution have largely forestalled the Philippines’ inclusion in the TPP – the economic cornerstone of Obama’s drive to refocus US foreign policy on Asia.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice said territorial claims in the South China Sea – which have put the United States in direct dispute with China – would feature prominently during a trip to the Philippines and Malaysia.
“This will be a central issue of discussion both at the East Asia Summit as well as at the ASEAN-US Summit (both in Kuala Lumpur) and the other engagements that we have throughout our visit to Asia,” Rice said.
That seemed at odds with China’s insistence that the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next week in Manila should not discuss rising tensions.
Beijing, along with several other Asian capitals, have a knot of claims to maritime territory.
But China’s decision to reclaim and build on reefs and other bodies recently prompted the US Navy to send in guided missile destroyer the USS Lassen to within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the artificial islets in the Spratlys chain.
Besides China, the other claimants are the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan, with some of their claims overlapping.
During his trip to the Philippines, Obama will tour a maritime facility, designed to underscore the US commitment to Philippine maritime security, amid talk of a fresh batch of US aid.
Manila recently won the right for an international panel to hear several territorial disputes with China. Beijing has so far ignored the proceedings.
Rice said the US view “has always been that these disputes need to be resolved through peaceful, legal means.”
“The establishment of and implementation of a code of conduct agreed among the leaders of the region, the states of the region and, in particular, the claimants would be a positive step forward,” she added. “But I don’t expect it to be a concrete outcome of this particular visit.”
Last week an Asia-Pacific defense ministers’ meeting in Malaysia ended on a sour note as the US and China butted heads over whether a final joint statement should mention the South China Sea.
Asked why Obama was willing to attend so many Asia summits in short order, senior Obama foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes said “when we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The issue is likely to come up again in bilateral meetings with leaders from Canada, Australia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
During his visit to Malaysia, Obama will also visit a refugee center, to highlight the issue as a “global challenge.”
“There are enormous refugee flows out of Syria into Europe. There are enormous refugee flows in Africa. There are enormous refugee flows in Asia,” said Rhodes.
“Malaysia hosts a very significant population of refugees, including a significant number of Rohingya who have had to leave (Myanmar),” he added.
In Manila, Obama will also take part in what the White House described as “an event that showcases US maritime security assistance to the Philippines.” US officials did not elaborate.
But in September, Navy Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, visited the National Coast Watch Center, a facility at the Philippines coast guard headquarters that Washington has helped Manila build to improve its ability to monitor developments in the
South China Sea.
Campaign for TPP
In the NYT report, Obama in the past few days has published two op-ed articles and a letter to online business owners who use eBay. He has also invited national security figures from both parties, led by two former secretaries of state, James Baker and Madeleine Albright, to join him at the White House on Friday to talk up the merits of expanding trade with Pacific Rim nations.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership will help generate higher wages, safer workplaces, fairer competition, and a cleaner environment — standards I will highlight as I travel from the G-20 to the Philippines and Malaysia,” Obama said in an article published in the Financial Times.
“If America is going to continue to lead,” he wrote in his letter to eBay business owners, “we have to make it easier for entrepreneurs like you to sell what you proudly make here in some of the fastest-growing markets around the world.”
The trade pact would set rules of the road for trade and investment between the US and Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, countries that together represent about 40 percent of the world economy. The Philippines has indicated that it wants to join as well. China is not part of the pact.