Obama stresses trade and human rights at the opening of ASEAN summit

US President Barack Obama, emphasized the American interest in increasing trade with the ASEAN countries and made a general appeal to the importance of respect for human rights at the beginning of a twoday summit in California with the leaders of Southeast Asian nations.

During the opening session of the summit in Rancho Mirage, in Sunnylands, California, Obama stressed his “personal commitment” to build a “strong and longlasting” alliance in the region, to the leaders of the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is the first summit between the USA and ASEAN held on US soil, Obama also noticed that he has visited the region already seven times, more than any of his predecessors.

According to the White House, the summit, which is held at the Sunnyvale Resort in Rancho Mirage allows Obama to have more informal, more relaxed and intimate meetings with the attendees.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. The trade between the US and the region has grown 55 percent since 2009.

The United States is now the largest investor in ASEAN and its fourth largest trading partner.

Therefore, the opening session of the summit focused on economic and trade issues, with the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) agreement one of the main issues on the agenda.

Apart from the US, four ASEAN countries (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam) are part of the TPP and the others, particularly Indonesia, have expressed interest in joining the agreement, which is pending ratification from the US Congress and is one of the foreign policy pillars of Obama.

“Together we can continue to increase the trade and economic partnerships that create jobs and opportunities for our people,” Obama encouraged.

On the eve of the summit, Obama received requests from organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) to talk openly about the violations of human rights in ASEAN countries such as Cambodia and Thailand.

The U.S. president made a reference to an initiative launched by his government to train and empower youth in Southeast Asia.

“As leaders, we have to answer their aspirations. And here at the summit, we can reaffirm that strong, prosperous and inclusive societies require good governance, the rule of law, accountable institutions, vibrant civil societies and the upholding of human rights.” Obama said.

Although several U.S. officials anticipate that the summit “is not about China,” security in the South China Sea will be among the issues to be addressed by leaders in meetings on Tuesday.

The Chinese government claims virtually the entire South China Sea and the islands clustered mostly in the Spratly and Paracel islands, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia also claim their sovereignty over part of the sea and island territories.

Obama stated that the United States has in recent years increased its assistance to maritime security for its allies in the region, while reiterating the message of the need to respect the “freedom of navigation” and the resolution of conflicts through “peaceful and legal means”.

Besides the fight against terrorism, which is on the official agenda of the session on Tuesday, it is also expected that Obama and Asian leaders will address the recent rocket launch by North Korea, given the suspicion that it could have been an illegal intercontinental ballistic missile test.

White House National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, said at a press conference Monday that it is “unlikely that China wants to be seen by the international community as the protector of North Korea” and thus, the USA expects that China’s government will support “significant new sanctions” against Pyongyang.

All the top ASEAN leaders participate in the summit, except the Myanmar president, Thein Sein, who is stepping down at the end of March and instead his Vice President, Nyan Tun joins the summit on behalf of the country’s leader.

On the sidelines of the summit Obama held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung. Obama confirmed his intention to visit the country in May when he is traveling to Japan for the G7 meeting, according to the White House.