KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 – US President Barack Obama today said he would host the leaders of 10 South-east Asian nations next year as he rejected accusations that Middle East turmoil was distracting him from focusing on Asia. He said he had invited leaders from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the United States, insisting that good ties with Asian nations were “absolutely critical” to US security.
“My Asia tour, which had been initially overshadowed by the jihadist attacks in Paris, Lebanon and Mali, was neither distracted by, nor “somehow disconnected from pressing global events. I’m pleased they accepted and I look forward to continuing our work,” he said when he speak in Kuala Lumpur at the end of a marathon week of diplomacy which has taken in summits in Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia.
He said this region is not a distraction from the world’s central challenges but is critical to security, prosperity and human dignity around the world. America’s self-styled “Pacific president”, Mr Obama has been frustrated to see his stops in Malaysia and the Philippines designed to highlight his stated re-focus on Asia overshadowed once again.
In the meantime, the invitation to ASEAN comes after a week which has seen the US and China repeatedly trade barbs over the tense maritime standoff in the South China Sea, as they also jostle for influence in the rapidly-developing of the South-east Asian region.
