By JAMES HOOKWAY, NATASHA BRERETON-FUKUI and PETER NICHOLAS
President Barack Obama's decision to skip a series of Asia and Pacific summits to tackle the partial government shutdown in Washington strips the U.S. of some of its recent diplomatic momentum in the region and could leave the door open for China to expand its influence.
China and the U.S. have competing visions for the future of the Pacific Rim, ranging from trade and security to resolving deep-seated territorial disputes in the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea.
America's rebalancing, or pivot, of its foreign policy away from the Middle East and Afghanistan toward East Asia was in part a way to ensure that the U.S. isn't locked out of new trade pacts in the region.
It also was meant to ensure that smaller Asian nations can profit from what U.S. officials have described as a healthier, more equitable relationship with China.
Mr. Obama's decision to skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Bali, Indonesia, and the East Asian Summit in Brunei next week "is a blow to America's image in Asia, where symbolism is everything," said Ian Storey, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"It projects the image that America is politically dysfunctional and fiscally irresponsible, and not as committed to Asia as the Obama administration would have us believe," he said.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that while Secretary of State John Kerry "will ably represent the United States at all of the stops on this trip, this completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to create jobs through promotion of U.S. exports and to advance U.S. leadership and interests in the largest emerging region in the world."
China, in contrast, has launched a full-court press in the region ahead of the meetings.
President Xi Jinping met with Indonesia's president Wednesday and addressed the country's parliament while signing a $15 billion currency swap agreement that could lend some support to Indonesia's wilting rupiah.
President Barack Obama's decision to skip a series of Asia and Pacific summits to tackle the partial government shutdown in Washington strips the U.S. of some of its recent diplomatic momentum in the region and could leave the door open for China to expand its influence.
China and the U.S. have competing visions for the future of the Pacific Rim, ranging from trade and security to resolving deep-seated territorial disputes in the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea.
America's rebalancing, or pivot, of its foreign policy away from the Middle East and Afghanistan toward East Asia was in part a way to ensure that the U.S. isn't locked out of new trade pacts in the region.
It also was meant to ensure that smaller Asian nations can profit from what U.S. officials have described as a healthier, more equitable relationship with China.
Mr. Obama's decision to skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Bali, Indonesia, and the East Asian Summit in Brunei next week "is a blow to America's image in Asia, where symbolism is everything," said Ian Storey, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"It projects the image that America is politically dysfunctional and fiscally irresponsible, and not as committed to Asia as the Obama administration would have us believe," he said.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that while Secretary of State John Kerry "will ably represent the United States at all of the stops on this trip, this completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to create jobs through promotion of U.S. exports and to advance U.S. leadership and interests in the largest emerging region in the world."
China, in contrast, has launched a full-court press in the region ahead of the meetings.
President Xi Jinping met with Indonesia's president Wednesday and addressed the country's parliament while signing a $15 billion currency swap agreement that could lend some support to Indonesia's wilting rupiah.
An Indonesian vegetable vendor passes a giant banner for APEC in Nusa Dua on Indonesia's resort island of Bali earlier this week.
Mr. Xi traveled to Malaysia on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Najib Razak and sign commercial agreements amid signs that China's economy is beginning to regain some momentum.
Mr. Obama earlier postponed scheduled trips to Malaysia and the Philippines that were to have followed his summit appearances.
The president's advisers were split on whether to proceed with the rest of the Asia trip.
Mr. Xi traveled to Malaysia on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Najib Razak and sign commercial agreements amid signs that China's economy is beginning to regain some momentum.
Mr. Obama earlier postponed scheduled trips to Malaysia and the Philippines that were to have followed his summit appearances.
The president's advisers were split on whether to proceed with the rest of the Asia trip.
Though the White House has said they scuttled the trip because of logistical challenges created by the shutdown, there were other considerations in play, according to people familiar with the decision.
A trio of Mr. Obama's former top aides, David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs, privately advised the White House that the president should proceed with the trip, according to a person familiar with the matter.
They told former colleagues in the West Wing that it was important for the president to carry on with his official duties and not let the trip become a casualty of the government shutdown.
A trio of Mr. Obama's former top aides, David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs, privately advised the White House that the president should proceed with the trip, according to a person familiar with the matter.
They told former colleagues in the West Wing that it was important for the president to carry on with his official duties and not let the trip become a casualty of the government shutdown.
But current staffers rejected the advice.
Politically, the trip posed two risks for the president.
Politically, the trip posed two risks for the president.
He would have been out of the country as the shutdown entered its second week and as lawmakers scrambled to break the impasse.
And pictures coming back to Washington of the president in sun-splashed Bali, at a moment when hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on furlough, might have proved embarrassing.
But Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the cancellation "reinforces the concern in the Asia-Pacific region that the talk about a pivot or rebalancing is mostly talk."
"Other than the secretary of defense, no other senior U.S. official seems to be making a habit of visiting Asia," he said.
And pictures coming back to Washington of the president in sun-splashed Bali, at a moment when hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on furlough, might have proved embarrassing.
But Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the cancellation "reinforces the concern in the Asia-Pacific region that the talk about a pivot or rebalancing is mostly talk."
"Other than the secretary of defense, no other senior U.S. official seems to be making a habit of visiting Asia," he said.
"So look, there's concern."
Speaking at a news briefing this week with Mr. Najib, Mr. Xi said China was looking forward to elevating its relationship with Malaysia and to promoting more cooperation across the region.
Chinese television covered Mr. Xi's tour extensively, frequently airing images of his glamorous wife, Peng Liyuan.
Speaking at a news briefing this week with Mr. Najib, Mr. Xi said China was looking forward to elevating its relationship with Malaysia and to promoting more cooperation across the region.
Chinese television covered Mr. Xi's tour extensively, frequently airing images of his glamorous wife, Peng Liyuan.
"China and (Southeast Asian) countries are linked by the same mountains and rivers and live alongside each other like members in one big family," Mr. Xi said in written answers to questions from reporters in Indonesia and Malaysia, according to a transcript released by China's news agency, Xinhua.
"China appears prosperous and full of self-confidence. As America struggles to resolve its severe political and economic problems, China will have the floor in Bali and Brunei," Mr. Storey said.
"China appears prosperous and full of self-confidence. As America struggles to resolve its severe political and economic problems, China will have the floor in Bali and Brunei," Mr. Storey said.
Mr. Obama's planned spin around Asia was hotly anticipated.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Bali in particular was billed as an opportunity to observe how much personal chemistry Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi actually developed in June during their informal summit in California.
Mr. Obama's cancellation is a loss of momentum for a U.S.-China relationship that had been moving in "positive directions", said Linda Jakobson, director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy's East Asia Program in Sydney, Australia.
The U.S. "pivot" to Asia, launched in 2011, already has had some successes.
Mr. Obama's cancellation is a loss of momentum for a U.S.-China relationship that had been moving in "positive directions", said Linda Jakobson, director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy's East Asia Program in Sydney, Australia.
The U.S. "pivot" to Asia, launched in 2011, already has had some successes.
It helped open up debate over how to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which is claimed in whole or in part by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.
To Beijing's chagrin, Washington has pushed for a multilateral process to resolve the conflict, which China would prefer discuss from a position of strength with individual countries.
To Beijing's chagrin, Washington has pushed for a multilateral process to resolve the conflict, which China would prefer discuss from a position of strength with individual countries.
The U.S. also has notably expanded military ties with the two countries most frequently at loggerheads with China over the waters, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Washington's move to eliminate many of its economic sanctions against Myanmar as the former military state continues its transition to democracy has helped open up the country to outside investment and reduce its economic dependence on China, analysts say.
The Obama administration's efforts to push forward the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, which involves the U.S. and 11 other countries including Japan, Australia and Chile, were also expected to be a major point of discussion.
The U.S. now ships more exports to the Asia and Pacific region than it does to the European Union or Canada, and hopes that a new trade pact providing more access to Asian markets can be wrapped up by the end of the year.
Washington's move to eliminate many of its economic sanctions against Myanmar as the former military state continues its transition to democracy has helped open up the country to outside investment and reduce its economic dependence on China, analysts say.
The Obama administration's efforts to push forward the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, which involves the U.S. and 11 other countries including Japan, Australia and Chile, were also expected to be a major point of discussion.
The U.S. now ships more exports to the Asia and Pacific region than it does to the European Union or Canada, and hopes that a new trade pact providing more access to Asian markets can be wrapped up by the end of the year.
China so far isn't involved in those discussions and is working to expand its own free-trade pact in the region that doesn't include the U.S.
Speaking before the White House canceled Mr. Obama's trip, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview in Bali that the coming TPP discussions would help assess the progress of the trade talks, and that a deal by the end of this year "is ambitious but doable."
Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief government spokesman, said that government officials attending pre-summit talks agreed to keep up the momentum for wrapping up the trade deal this year.
Speaking before the White House canceled Mr. Obama's trip, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview in Bali that the coming TPP discussions would help assess the progress of the trade talks, and that a deal by the end of this year "is ambitious but doable."
Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief government spokesman, said that government officials attending pre-summit talks agreed to keep up the momentum for wrapping up the trade deal this year.
Mr. Suga also expressed Japan's hope that the impasse in Washington will be resolved "as soon as possible so that the domestic problem doesn't impact diplomacy."
Scholars in China, however, described Mr. Obama as a victim of domestic politics and said they weren't reading much significance into the White House decision to skip the summits.
"The absence is just a technical problem" and won't have a lasting impact on U.S. influence in Asia, said He Maochun, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University.
Scholars in China, however, described Mr. Obama as a victim of domestic politics and said they weren't reading much significance into the White House decision to skip the summits.
"The absence is just a technical problem" and won't have a lasting impact on U.S. influence in Asia, said He Maochun, an international relations specialist at Tsinghua University.
"China's influence in the Pacific Rim is increasing, but remains very limited."
Still, the fallout from the government shutdown is reviving doubts about the U.S.'s standing in Asia, said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, who heads Indonesian Vice President Boediono's political affairs team.
"There are jokes going around now," she said.
Still, the fallout from the government shutdown is reviving doubts about the U.S.'s standing in Asia, said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, who heads Indonesian Vice President Boediono's political affairs team.
"There are jokes going around now," she said.
"'Why did Mr. Obama cancel his trip? Maybe because he can't pay his fuel and hotel bills.' It's not a funny joke."
Ernest Bower at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington noted that China increased its influence across Asia while the U.S. was preoccupied with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and adopted a much more assertive posture on its territorial claims during the low point of the global financial crisis.
U.S. allies will "have little choice to pursue some level of hedging behavior as the U.S. signals that its political system does not allow for consistent top level engagement in the region,'' Mr. Bower said.
Ernest Bower at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington noted that China increased its influence across Asia while the U.S. was preoccupied with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and adopted a much more assertive posture on its territorial claims during the low point of the global financial crisis.
U.S. allies will "have little choice to pursue some level of hedging behavior as the U.S. signals that its political system does not allow for consistent top level engagement in the region,'' Mr. Bower said.
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