Obama came into office stressing America’s role as a “Pacific” nation, underscoring his reorientation of US interests toward Asia. The two-hour lunch Obama will host for leaders from the 10 countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations is the longest single event on the president’s New York agenda – a point that signals to the region and to a muscle-flexing China that Obama intends the US to play a major role in Asian affairs.
Among issues to be addressed: Obama’s scheduled November trip to Asia, and the US position that Southeast Asian countries should address territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea as one group of nations, not individually.
