Obama sees strong US ties with ASEAN continuing after leaving office

23 February 2016
Obama sees strong US ties with ASEAN continuing after leaving office
US President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during a press conference on the last day of the US-ASEAN Summit, at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, USA, 16 February 2016. Photo: NED REDWAY/EPA

As he approaches the end of his two terms in office, US President Barack Obama gave an assessment of his performance in an exclusive interview with Channel News Asia broadcast yesterday. The US President was interviewed on the sidelines of the US-ASEAN Summit in Sunnylands, California on 16 February. 
In relation to ASEAN and whether ASEAN could act as a counterweight to China, he told Channel News Asia: “No, I think it is because the United States sees this as an incredibly dynamic growing young population. More and more economic activity is going to be centred in the Asia region. And we want to make sure the United States as an Asian-Pacific power has partners who are interested, like we are in promoting the kind of rule-based order that has promoted prosperity and security for decades now.”
The US President pointed to the example of Singapore: “A small island nation with no natural resources but because it has been able to work within this rule-based system, because it has invested in its people, because of sound management and governance, it has emerged as one of the wealthiest per capita nations, not just in the region, but in the world. And we are seeing that kind of development in all the ASEAN countries. There are different levels of development, but they all focus on the practical issues of promoting prosperity. And we think we can be a really valuable partner in that process. And that will benefit us as well as the ASEAN countries.”
In relation to whether he thought the next administration would continue Obama’s Pivot towards Asia, and whether there would be continued interest in ASEAN, the president told Channel News Asia: “There is no doubt of the fact that I have spent time in Indonesia when I was young, that my sister is half Indonesia, that I have travelled throughout the region, that all gives me great affection for its people and probably gives me more appreciation for the enormous potential for the region. On the other hand, I think it is important to recognize that Americans, certainly American businesses but I think Americans generally, understand that Asia is going to be increasingly important in the world economy, in dealing with the transnational issues like climate change, and so I am confident that the next administration will continue many of the policies we have put forward, partly because we have also institutionalized them. We have created a series of habits inside our State Department and we have passed laws, initiated programmes, many of them, so we can feel confident that it will continue after I have gone and hopefully we will continue to see the bonds between the US and ASEAN nations continue to grow.”
Speaking about international affairs, the US President told Channel News Asia that he had a mixed assessment. He lauded the COP-21 climate talks, and reserved praise for China’s President Xi Jinping but clearly stated his concerns in relation to possible conflict in the South China Sea. In the Middle East and elsewhere, though, there are still challenges to be resolved he told the channel. The President also said that finding a lasting relationship with China was still a work in progress.