Asia-Pacific rebalance to remain top priority for Obama

Ahead of President Obama's sixth trip to the Asia-Pacific region - and his second this year - one of his top aide has said the "Asia-Pacific rebalance" is going to be the top foreign policy priority of the Administration in the remaining two years.
"The President remains deeply committed to his Asia rebalancing strategy, and its implementation will remain a top priority throughout the second term," National Security Adviser Susan Rice said.
Obama leaves for China, Burma, and Australia over the weekend.
Noting that America's security and prosperity are increasingly and inextricably linked to the Asia- Pacific, Rice said the US is and will remain an Asian-Pacific power.

"We are engaged in fostering an open and transparent security and economic order amid what is an increasing and already high demand from the region for US leadership," she said.
"Our trade and investment ties to Asia are critical to our future economic growth and to generating American jobs.

And the US economy is expanding because of actions that President Obama has taken, including through our engagement with the Asia-Pacific region," she said.
Beijing is scheduled to Obama's first stop during the current trip.
The first portion of the visit will be focused around his participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit.

"Our participation at APEC will highlight several themes," Rice said.
"We're working with our Asian partners to deepen our trade and investment ties through progress on agreements such as the WTO information technology agreement and the environmental goods and services agreement, and we're working to bring China into the rules-based institutional structures in Asia."
She said the visit is an opportunity to identify a forward-looking agenda for the next two years of this (US-China) relationship.
Obama would then travel to Naypidaw in Burma, where he will participate in the East Asia Summit, and then in the US- ASEAN summit.
Brisbane would be the final stop of the US President where he would attend the G-20 Summit.

"During the G-20 leaders meeting in Brisbane, we'll have the opportunity to highlight how President Obama's economic leadership has resulted in a significant increase in the resilience and the stability of the global financial system, and how the world's biggest economies continue to take meaningful action to promote growth," she said.
In Brisbane, Obama will deliver a major policy address and discuss US leadership in Asia, especially on economic issues, and the speech will also provide an opportunity to reaffirm America's commitment to the Asia-Pacific rebalance and do so irrespective of the other global challenges.