During the first-ever visit to Laos by a US president, Barack Obama announced Tuesday that America will put $90 million toward removing unexploded bombs from the Southeast Asian country. The president acknowledged that while information about the American intervention in Laos from 1964 to 1973 was withheld from the public in the United States, “for the people of Laos, obviously, this war was no secret”. The first US president to set foot in Laos while in office, Obama lamented that many Americans remain unaware of the “painful legacy” left behind.
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Obama’s Asia project – dubbed his pivot or rebalance – has yielded uneven results, as conflict in the Middle East has continued to demand attention and China has bristled at what it views as meddling in its backyard.
Leading up to the summit, Duterte said that he would not discuss human rights issues with Obama until the US apologizes for the pacification campaign of the Moro people in Mindanao at the turn of the century in which 600 died.
Responding to criticism by the United Nations earlier this year, Mr Duterte threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the UN and forge new alliances with China and the African Union. He touted new military aid and US support for regional cooperation in addressing maritime disputes.
Apart from the 10 ASEAN Member states, East Asia Summit includes India, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Russian Federation.
“We believe that bigger nations should not dictate to smaller nations and that all nations should play by the same rules”, he said. The Lao government, meanwhile, said it will boost efforts to recover remains and account for Americans missing since the war.
As he opened a day of ceremony and diplomacy, Obama was greeted by a military band, traditional dancers and a warm, tropical rain.
Obama’s outreach to those regional powers hit a snag just as he arrived in the region from China.
The flap over Duterte’s remarks started when a reporter asked him how he meant to explain the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers to Obama.
In a hard-hitting attack on Mr Obama, Mr Duterte took the unconventional route in diplomatic circles, criticising the United States president’s personal life and insulting his mother.
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WASHINGTON/TAMPA (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday stressed the need for ties with the Philippines to be based on mutual respect, after Manila’s new leader raised worries about the future of the key alliance by calling President Barack Obama a “son of a bitch”. “We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries”, his statement said.
