Obama to visit 4 Asian countries next month, but visit to Indonesia will come later

Obama’s coming Asian tour will exclude Indonesia

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s first Asian trip as president will include Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea, but not Indonesia, where he spent four years of his life.

Obama and his mother moved from Hawaii to Jakarta, Indonesia, when he was 6 years old. They left to return to the United States when he was 10.

In announcing Obama’s Asian itinerary Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono talked about a presidential visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation during a brief meeting at last month’s Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“They agreed on the importance of having a visit that would showcase the importance of growing U.S.-Indonesian bilateral relations,” Gibbs said.

In a speech in Washington last November, Yudhoyono advocated a “21st century strategic partnership” between the two countries.

During Obama’s coming trip, the two presidents probably will meet in Singapore, Obama’s second stop.

Gibbs said the presidential tour was “to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the world on a range of issues of mutual interest.”

Gibbs said Obama’s first stop will be in Japan Nov. 12-13, where he will have two meetings with new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Gibbs said the visit with “this key ally” will cover economic, security and other issues.

After Tokyo, Obama flies to Singapore to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting Nov. 13-15, a major forum for economies around the Pacific Rim. In Singapore, he also will become the first U.S. president to sit in on the annual meeting of leaders of ASEAN, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

From Singapore, Obama will fly to China, where he will visit both Beijing and Shanghai Nov. 15-18. While in China, Obama and President Hu Jintao will hold their third meeting to discuss regional and world issues including security, nuclear nonproliferation, energy and climate change.

Obama’s final stop will be in South Korea Nov. 18-19. There he and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will have their third face-to-face meeting. North Korea will be among the items on their agenda, Gibbs said.