Barack Obama will pay the first visit by a US president to Malaysia in a half-century on a four-nation Asia tour next month, the White House said Friday.
Obama will attend summits in Indonesia and Brunei and also visit the Philippines, a longtime US ally that supports greater military ties, during the October 6-12 trip.
The last US president to visit Malaysia was Lyndon Johnson in 1966. US relations with the Muslim-majority nation soured during the 1981-2003 tenure of prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a strident critic of the West.
The White House said that Obama will visit Malaysia to take part in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, an initiative on job growth that the US leader designed as a way to reach out to the Islamic world.
Obama will also meet Prime Minister Najib Razak "to highlight our growing bilateral ties with Malaysia," a White House statement said.
Obama, who spent part of his youth in Indonesia, has put a priority on building relations with Southeast Asia, seeing the fast-growing and largely US-friendly region as neglected in the past.
The trip is "part of his ongoing commitment to increase US political, economic and security engagement with the Asia Pacific," the statement said.
Obama will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, Indonesia and then head to the sultanate of Brunei for the East Asia Summit.
Russia traditionally participates in the regional meetings, potentially giving Obama his latest opportunity to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has spearheaded a proposal for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to put his chemical weapons under international control, at least temporarily halting a US push for a military strike in retaliation for the regime's alleged use of the weapons.
Michael Green, who was the top Asia adviser to former president George W. Bush, said that Obama's "muddled message" on Syria could cast a pall over his public reception in Malaysia and Indonesia.
"If the process that the Russians have manufactured goes nowhere, which is very likely, and we're back to debate and possibly the use of force, that is not the context that you want to take into countries like Malaysia or Indonesia," said Green, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"You can't always make the summit about Asia when something in the other part of the world is catching the White House press corps's attention," he said.
Obama will be paying the first visit by a US president to the Philippines, a treaty-bound US ally and former colony, since Bush in 2003.
The Philippines said in June it was looking to give the United States, as well as Japan, greater access to its bases as it seeks to counter what it perceives as a growing threat from China.
China -- which contests maritime areas with the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan -- earlier Friday issued its latest warning for the United States to stay out of disputes.
The United States "should not send wrong signals that support or connive with relevant countries to act on their own initiative," senior Chinese military officer Wang Guanzhong told a US official in Beijing.
The Obama administration has repeatedly urged freedom of navigation and has stepped up military cooperation with the Philippines and Vietnam.
With the trip, Obama would have visited all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations except communist nations Vietnam and Laos.
The United States has been seeking better relations with both nations. Obama in July received President Truong Tan Sang who was paying the second visit by a Vietnamese head of state to the White House since the two nations' war.
Obama pledged to visit Vietnam but did not give a date. Vietnamese American activists had urged Obama not to visit on his upcoming trip, saying he should first seek improvements in human rights.
AFP
Sat Sep 14 2013
Niaga AWANI: Kajian UNICEF: Pendapatan isi rumah melonjak, kemiskinan masih ketara
Biarpun ini menandakan pemulihan yang ketara dalam usaha menangani kesan ekonomi akibat pandemik, kemiskinan masih ketara, terutamanya dalam kalangan wanita, kanak-kanak, dan individu kurang upaya (OKU).
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Indeks Harga Pasir: Kebanyakkan kawasan di semenanjung catat peningkatan
Indeks harga seunit pasir catat peningkatan antara 0.2 hingga 2.6 peratus bagi kebanyakan kawasan di Semenanjung Malaysia pada bulan lalu.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Niaga AWANI: Akaun 3 KWSP, semakan gaji penjawat awam mampu beri lonjakan
Pengeluaran daripada akaun 3 (akaun fleksibel) Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) yang akan diperkenalkan tidak lama lagi dan kenaikan gaji kakitangan awam dijangka meningkatkan perbelanjaan swasta, sekali gus menyumbang kepada pertumbuhan ekonomi negara.
#NiagaAWANI
#NiagaAWANI
Akaun IG dakwa ada maklumat kes simbah asid Faisal Halim adalah palsu - PDRM
PDRM mengenal pasti bahawa akaun IG Muhammad Imran Suresh, yang mendakwa memiliki maklumat berkaitan kes kejadian simbah asid pemain skuad kebangsaan adalah palsu.
Harga petrol, diesel kekal bagi tempoh 9 hingga 15 Mei
Harga runcit bagi petrol RON97 dan RON95 serta diesel masing-masing kekal pada paras harga RM3.47, RM2.05 dan RM2.15 seliter bagi tempoh 9 hingga 15 Mei ini.
Mat Yo, Safee Sali harap Faisal Halim dapat kembali beraksi di padang
Mat Yo mendoakan rakan seperjuangannya, Faisal Halim diberi kesembuhan dan dapat beraksi semula di padang di masa akan datang.
Hospital Abu Youssef Al-Najjar pindah operasi
Peningkatan operasi ketenteraan Israel di Rafah memaksa pemindahan operasi Hospital Abu Youssef Al-Najjar. Hospital itu merupakan pusat perubatan utama yang menerima dan merawat mangsa serangan udara di Rafah sejak beberapa minggu lalu.
Usaha berterusan menyelamatkan mangsa banjir di Brazil
Pihak berkuasa Brazil menggandakan usaha menyelamatkan mangsa banjir yang masih terkandas di selatan Rio Grande Do Sul.
Qatar kutuk serangan Israel, gesa dunia bertindak
Qatar terus mengutuk serangan Israel ke atas Rafah dan menggesa masyarakat antarabangsa bersatu dalam menghentikan kekejaman itu.
Laluan Monorel kini kembali beroperasi seperti biasa
Perkhidmatan Monorel yang sebelum ini tergendala akibat insiden pokok tumbang di Jalan Sultan Ismail pada Selasa, kini kembali beroperasi seperti sedia kala bermula jam 5 petang Rabu.
Rapid Rail dalam satu kenyataan berkata, kerja-kerja pembersihan dan baikpulih yang dijalankan oleh pihak bersama dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan telah berjaya diselesaikan pada jam 5.55 pagi tadi.
Rapid Rail dalam satu kenyataan berkata, kerja-kerja pembersihan dan baikpulih yang dijalankan oleh pihak bersama dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan telah berjaya diselesaikan pada jam 5.55 pagi tadi.
APEC 2024: Mesyuarat pertama ABAC tumpu keresahan akibat pemecahan ekonomi global
Mesyuarat pertama ABAC 2024 beri tumpuan kepada keresahan yang mendalam berkenaan tekanan daripada pemecahan ekonomi global.
APEC tidak boleh goyah dalam menyokong kerjasama ekonomi - Tengku Zafrul
Katanya, platform tersebut mesti meningkatkan manfaat perjanjian perdagangan pelbagai hala.
Dunia perlu agenda perubahan, capai kejayaan bersama - MITI
Dunia memerlukan agenda perdagangan baharu yang tidak terikat dengan klise lama.
APEC 2024: Mesyuarat pertama ABAC tumpu reda tekanan ekonomi serantau
Mesyuarat tiga hari bermula semalam menjadi platform dialog kepada usaha untuk meredakan tekanan ekonomi yang melanda rantau ini.
Anwar kutuk Israel depan Joe Biden
Anwar menggunakan setiap ruang yang ada pada pertemuan tersebut untuk membangkitkan isu penindasan berterusan terhadap rakyat Gaza.
PM Anwar laung seruan selamatkan penduduk Gaza, wakili ekonomi pesat membangun di APEC 2023
Mesej PM di setiap platform mudah dan jelas - pembunuhan dan kekejaman di Gaza perlu dihentikan dan tidak ada pilihan lain lagi.
Malaysia raih pelaburan bernilai RM63.02 bilion di Amerika Syarikat - Anwar
Malaysia telah meraih pelaburan sebanyak RM63.02 bilion bagi cadangan pelaburan di Amerika Syarikat (AS) terutamanya daripada syarikat gergasi teknologi, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Amerika Syarikat harus bersikap adil mengenai konflik di Gaza - Anwar
Prinsip keadilan dan hak asasi manusia adalah penting untuk ditegakkan termasuk dalam isu perdagangan global dan pertumbuhan ekonomi, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar suarakan krisis Gaza pada dialog APEC, kejutkan pemimpin ekonomi anggota
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini menyuarakan mengenai pertumpahan darah yang berlaku di Semenanjung Gaza di tengah-tengah serangan udara dan darat Israel yang tidak henti-henti.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.