Obama hails expanded US engagement in Asia

Billing himself America`s 1st "Pacific President", Obama vowed a full US’ role in charting Asia`s future.

Tokyo: Billing himself America`s first "Pacific President", Barack Obama said the United States did not seek to "contain" China and promised a full US’ role in charting Asia`s future.

In a major speech on the second day of his debut tour of the region, Obama repeatedly challenged regional leaders to wean themselves off lucrative US export markets to pursue "balanced" and sustainable economic growth.

Drawing on his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, and with a characteristic call for a new era of engagement, Obama also said Washington`s commitment to the region`s security was "unshakeable”.

From the stage of the Suntory concert hall in Tokyo on Saturday, Obama said he knew that many in his 1,500 strong audience wondered how Washington felt about China`s rise, which some observers believe has come at America`s expense.

"The United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances," Obama said. "On the contrary, the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations."

Though speaking warmly of future ties with Beijing, a day ahead of his first visit to the region, Obama warned that he would not waver from raising human rights concerns with Beijing but would do so without "rancour”.

He notably however, did not specifically mention Tibet, amid claims by critics that he avoided Tibet`s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Washington, so as to avoid angering leaders in Beijing.

Some critics of Obama in the United States and abroad, have accused him of downplaying human rights concerns to win Beijing`s cooperation on issues like North Korea and Iran.

Many Asian observers believe that the US immersion in bloody wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had forced it to take its eye off dynamic Asia, leaving an opening for China to seize a more powerful regional role.

"Even as American troops are engaged in two wars around the world, our commitment to Japan’s security and to Asian security is unshakeable," Obama said, against a backdrop of US and Japanese flags.

"It can be seen in our deployments throughout the region -- above all, through our young men and women in uniform."

On N Korea

Seeking a world free of atomic arms, President Barack Obama today asserted that the US and others will not "be cowed" by North Korea`s threats to step up its nuclear programme and will advance the goal of securing all of the world`s "vulnerable" material within four years.

"Next year at our Nuclear Security Summit, we will advance our goal of securing all of the world`s vulnerable nuclear materials within four years," he said in his major policy speech.

Obama also stressed on the need of a world free of nuclear weapons for achieving "common security".

Noting that strengthening the global non-proliferation regime is not about singling out individual nations, he said it is about all nations living up to their responsibilities.

"That includes the Islamic Republic of Iran. And it includes North Korea," he said. "For decades, North Korea has chosen a path of confrontation and provocation, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons."

"We will not be cowed by threats, and we will continue to send a clear message through our actions, and not just our words: North Korea`s refusal to meet its international obligations will lead only to less security – not more," Obama said.

Obama also said that the United States is prepared to offer North Korea a different future. "Instead of an isolation that has compounded the horrific repression of its own people, North Korea could have a future of international integration.”

"Let me be clear: so long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a strong and effective nuclear deterrent that guarantees the defence of our allies – including South Korea and Japan," he said.

However, he warned that an escalating nuclear arms race in this region would undermine decades of growing security and prosperity. "So we are called upon to uphold the basic bargain of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – that all nations have a right to peaceful nuclear energy; that nations with nuclear weapons have a responsibility to move toward nuclear disarmament; and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them," Obama said.

Japan, he said, serves as an example to the world that true peace and power can be achieved by taking this path. For decades, Japan has enjoyed the benefits of peaceful nuclear energy, while rejecting nuclear arms development – and by any measure, this has increased Japan`s security, and enhanced its position, he noted.

"To meet our responsibilities – and move forward with the agenda I laid out in Prague (early this year) – we have passed a unanimous UN Security Council resolution embracing this international effort. We are pursuing a new agreement with Russia to reduce our nuclear stockpiles," he said. "We will work to ratify and bring into force the Test Ban Treaty."

On Myanmar

Obama today ruled out any lifting of sanctions on Myanmar, saying they would remain till the military regime takes concrete steps towards restoration of democracy and release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other political prisoners.

"We are now communicating directly with the (Myanmar) leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform," Obama said in his major policy speech on Asia at the Suntory Hall here.

The US had recently announced the US policy to engage the military junta in a dialogue, a marked departure from the past wherein the US slapped sanctions on Myanmar for its inability to restore democracy and protect human rights. So far, it has held two rounds of talks with the junta, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has termed as successful and productive.

"We support a Burma that is unified, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic. And as Burma moves in that direction, a better relationship with the United States is possible," Obama said.

"There are clear steps that must be taken – unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; an end to conflicts with minority groups; and a genuine dialogue between the government, the democratic opposition and minority groups on a shared vision for the future," he said.

That is how a government there will be able to respond to the needs of its people and that is the path that will bring Myanmar "true security and prosperity," said Obama, who for the first time himself was articulating his administration`s policy on the country.

On Economy

Turning to the economy, just before heading to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore, Obama called on Asian economies to live up to G20 pledges to support balanced economic growth after the worst global recession in decades.

"We must strengthen our economic recovery, and pursue growth that is both balanced and sustained," said Obama.

"Now that we are on the brink of economic recovery, we must also ensure that it can be sustained," he said.

"We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led us into a global recession. We cannot follow the same policies that led to such imbalanced growth."

With an eye on multiple political challenges back home, including crushing 10 percent unemployment, Obama also told Americans that Asia plays a vital role in their economic security.

Obama arrived in Tokyo on Friday and met Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, lauding the US-Japan alliance and signalling flexibility on the thorny issue of the relocation of a US military base on the island of Okinawa.

Obama will fly on from Singapore to Shanghai on Sunday on his debut visit to China, and then moves to Beijing to meet President Hu Jintao.

He wraps up his visit in South Korea next week.

Bureau Report

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