Author: Simon Tay, SIIA
President Obama’s 10 day tour of Asia’s four largest democracies showed a continued commitment to engage Asia, even if difficult Tea Party politics at home might derail the practicalities of increased regional engagement. For Americans, President Obama brought home deliverables on jobs in India and helped lay groundwork for trade agreements with Korea. For some Asians, there is a feeling of relief that US-Asia relations will continue.
Yet while the trip was positive, there is no room for complacency. While the US and Asia remain interdependent, there remain significant obstacles to the development of the post-crisis relationship, in spite of leaders’ best intentions. Read more…
Author: Simon Tay, SIIA
Ambassador-At-Large Tommy Koh has written a comment which addresses several points in my book Asia Alone: The Dangerous Post-Crisis Divide from America.
Questions of leadership and engagement in Asia are live issues. New frameworks for cooperation are taking shape, with the US announcing it will join the East Asia Summit as well as host the second US-ASEAN Summit. Australian and Japanese proposals for a new community have been shelved. Read more…
Author: Simon Tay, SIIA
The ASEAN summit ended Friday 9 April in Hanoi not only with further plans for its ten members but also ways to widen Asian dialogues. Most agree to now include the USA and also Russia. There are however differences over how best to do so.
The differences are not well understood. One suggestion is to expand the existing East Asian Summit (EAS), in which ASEAN annually hosts the six leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. Read more…
