Obama’s Canada trip: All about Asia

During President Obama’s trip to Canada this weekend for the G-8 and G-20 meetings on global economic reform, the real action will be taking place in his meetings with several top Asian leaders on the sidelines of the events.

"We also want to use these meetings as an opportunity to underscore America’s commitment to leadership and increased engagement in Asia," said a senior administration official about the trip. "We see this is an opportunity to continue our efforts to renew our leadership in Asia."

Five out of the six precious bilateral meetings Obama will grant over the weekend will go to leaders from East Asian countries. After the first meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Toronto, his one-on-ones will be with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, and the new Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan.

"That is, I think, an eloquent demonstration of the importance that the president attaches to Asia, the importance of Asia to our political security and economic interest," another senior administration official said.

For the Korea bilat, the sinking of the Cheonan will be at the top of the agenda. The U.N. debate over how to reprimand North Korea for sinking the ship is going on now and strategies for finishing that effort need to be discussed.

With the Chinese president, Obama will likely follow up on the slight change China made to its currency policy this week. Congress isn’t quite yet satisfied with the move and is still pressing legislation, so Obama needs to find out whether Hu intends to go further.

In a blistering New York Times column Friday, Princeton University economist Paul Krugman argued that China’s currency adjustment was "basically a joke" and called on Beijing to "stop giving us the runaround and deliver real change" or face trade sanctions.

Obama may also want to raise Beijing’s refusal to resume military-to-military dialogue, as shown most dramatically when China refused to let U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visit last month when he was traveling in the region.

"It’s our view and it’s the president’s view that military-to-military relations between the U.S. and China are in China’s interest and in the U.S.’s interest," the senior administration official said. "This is not a favor that either side does to the other."

"We believe they should be continuous and should not be subject to ups and downs based on events in the relationship," he said, a reference to the administration’s decision to go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan over Beijing’s vociferous objections, as well as Chinese anger over Obama’s welcoming of the Dalai Lama in February.

With Japan’s Kan, Obama’s mission is to make nice and get off to a better start than he did with ousted Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The Kan administration definitely seems to be on board with that idea and the White House is sending the message that, as far as the United States is concerned, the dispute over the Futenma air station on Okinawa is settled.

"Prime Minister Kan has made clear that he endorses the agreement that we reached on basing in Okinawa. He does not question it, and he’s looking to strengthen the alliance," the senior administration official said.

Obama is scheduled to visit India, Japan, and Korea on a trip in November, so the meetings are also meant to prepare for that as well. No word yet on whether Indonesia will be added as a stop.