WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama's attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders' meeting in Singapore next week will chart a new direction for U.S. participation in Asian multilateral diplomacy and call attention to the new administration's policy of engagement with the reclusive military-led government in Burma.Next week's summit between Obama and Southeast Asian leaders, which will occur on the sidelines of the APEC summit, signifies a major shift in U.S. diplomacy towards Southeast Asia from the approach of the George W. Bush administration, which focused on counterterrorism and military cooperation but largely ignored regional diplomatic frameworks, while China expanded its economic ties to the region.
China's increasing economic engagement in Southeast Asia has become most evident in its extensive economic ties to the ruling military junta in Burma and the China-ASEAN free trade agreement (FTA) which will come into effect in January.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Obama's summit with Southeast Asian leaders will be historic not only for the renewed U.S. interest in U.S.-ASEAN diplomatic ties, but also in that it will be one of the highest level meetings between a U.S. president and a top leader - Prime Minister Thein Sein - in Burma's military junta.
