US Government Shutdown Forces Cancellation Of Two Asian Trips Of Obama

US Government Shutdown Forces Cancellation Of Two Asian Trips Of Obama

The US government shutdown has compelled President Barack Obama to cut short his Asian trip, which leaves out a visit to the Philippines and Malaysia out of his itinerary.

For the moment, Obama is set to attend two economic summits that will be held in Brunei and Indonesia. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden indicated that an assessment will be made on the trips basing on the events that will develop within the week.

Obama reportedly called President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines and Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malazysia to talk about the US government shutdown.

The close partnership that the President forged with Malaysia was reaffirmed. Obama also confirmed his respect for the leadership of Prime Minister Najib and indicated that he will visit Malaysia within his term. A similar message was also given to President Aquino of the Philippines.

Instead, the US delegation to the two countries will be lead by Secretary of State John Kerry The failure to reach an agreement on the new spending plan by the House and Senate resulted to the partial US government shutdown.

The short-term budget approved by the House was unacceptable for the Democrats in the Senate. The budget would have delayed some parts of the health care law of Obama. The trip to the Philippines and Malaysia would have wrapped up the Asian trip of the president.

Two trips of Obama in Asia were also cancelled in 2010. One trip was due to the health care law vote while the second was due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Hayden indicated that the trip was cancelled due to the situation that was forced by the House Republicans. The US government shutdown was also a setback in the capability of the US to promote exports and increase the leadership of the US in the world’s biggest emerging region.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday October 03 2013, 3:45 AM EST. Ref: USA Today. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0