• Fri
  • Dec 26, 2014
  • Updated: 6:10pm

Obama: China has benefitted from my absence at Asia summit

US President warns that government shutdown hurting US credibility

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 09 October, 2013, 10:11am
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 October, 2013, 4:02am


Obama last week cancelled a trip to Indonesia and Brunei, opting to stay home and manage the US government shutdown instead of joining other world leaders at international summits being held there.

A week after the shutdown started, Republicans and Democrats are still at an impasse over how to reopen the government and raise the US debt ceiling before an October 17 deadline.



Obama’s cancellation of the trip, which was also to include stops in Malaysia and the Philippines, has raised doubts about his administration’s vaunted pivot to Asia, which was aimed at reinvigoration US military and economic influence in the region while balancing a rising Beijing.

Secretary of State John Kerry attended in Obama’s place.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Indonesia announcing a raft of trade deals worth $30 billion when US officials announced Obama would be a no-show.

I’m sure the Chinese don’t mind that I’m not there right now
US President Barack Obama

Obama had hoped to advance talks for a trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, during the Asia trip. Talks over the pact involve 12 nations and aim to establish a free-trade bloc that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile to Japan.

The United States expressed hope on Tuesday it could seal the pact by the end of the year despite resistance from some countries and Obama’s absence from the regional summit.

“It didn’t help that I wasn’t there to make sure that we went ahead and closed a trade deal that would open up markets and create jobs for the United States, and make sure that countries were trading fairly with us in the most dynamic, fastest-growing market in the world,” Obama said at the White House. “I should have been there.”

Obama attends summits around the world every year, and US officials prepare for them for weeks. The president’s emphasis on attending regional summits in Asia was designed to put muscle behind his promise the United States would remain a Pacific power.

“The irony is our teams probably do more to organise a lot of these multilateral forums and set the agenda than anybody. I mean, we end up being engaged much more than China, for example, in setting the agenda and moving this stuff forward,” Obama said.



It is also the top holder of US debt, adding further pressure to the United States to avoid a default.

Obama sought to assure international partners that the United States would pay its bills and service its debt, but he cautioned that the ability to raise the US borrowing limit lay in the hands of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and its leader, John Boehner.


“Whenever we do these things, it hurts our credibility around the world. It makes it look like we don’t have our act together. And that’s not something we should welcome,” he said.



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This article is now closed to comments

Mr. Obama,
That's a real cheap shot you are having at us Chinese. Even if you were present at the Apec, you would not be the star of the show which was normally reserved for the president of the USA. The Big Apple has lost its grip and riightly so in the eyes of many as its becoming too much of a bully who never cares for the people of other nations. Contain your expenditure! Raising debt ceilings every one or two years is irresponsible to both the whole world and the people of USA.
Sorry to say Obama, but it's not your party and whether you were there or not, would not have made a difference for the rest of the world........probably would have made a difference for the USA though, but then, America is going downhill and has been ever since you got elected for the first and second term..............America and the rest of the world would have been a better place if you were never elected President..........."lame duck".
Sir, I am also disgusted by Obama's China bashing as a distraction from his battle with Congress; however, this should not apply to New York City - "the Big Apple".
Obama is just one person who is elected through the U.S. democratic system to be the country's President. America has enough of its own problems to be concern of Asia. Reality is with or without Obama's presence, business and/or politics in Asia will move on. The American democratic system is showing its deficiencies and its a warning to Asian countries' leaders not to be blinded in following such democratic practices where the government can be shut down and its ability to meet its financial obligations be left hanging like a yoyo.
Dear Obama, why you absent?
In a few years, we will benefit from his absence on the political scene. He's been a disastrous president.


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