U.S.- ASEAN summit to reassure region that US engagement will continue

World Today

Part of the purpose of the U.S. ASEAN Summit is to reassure Pacific nations that Washington’s Pacific pivot strategy will survive President Barack Obama’s departure from the White House. 

As Obama’s term is ending the administration says its Asia strategy could continue under the next president.

CCTV America’s Jessica Stone reports.

About U.S. Asia Pivot Strategy:
– U.S. President Barack Obama announced it in 2011 in an address to the Australian Parliament
– Also called “Asia Rebalance”
– Hallmarks: US attendance at regional meetings, TPP Trade pact, U.S. Marines posted in Darwin, Australia
– Beijing views strategy as American containment
– ASEAN view: U.S. allies support pivot, others waiting for tangible evidence of U.S. presence

“There really isn’t a sense that it was a fully formed idea to begin with….Cold war mentality that if we don’t understand something, or like it, or see it as a threat, we encircle it.”
– Einar Tangen, Political Commentator in Beijing

“Countries in the region are still questioning, what is the real result of this strategy…”
– Shohib Masykur, U.S.-Indonesia Society Fellow

“We do believe there should be a significant amount of engagement with this part of the world in the future.”
– Ben Rhodes, Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, National Security Council.


Teng Jianqun on U.S.- ASEAN summit

CCTV America’s Susan Roberts interviewed Teng Jianqun. He’s the Director of the Center of Arms Control at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing.