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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is heading for Australia on the next leg of his tour of the Asia-Pacific rim.
After his two-day visit to Australia, Obama will head for the East Asian summit in Bali.
All week, he will be emphasising that with the US pulling forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan, it has an opportunity to put a new emphasis on the relationship between Washington and several Asian capitals.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was in many ways just a curtain raiser for Obama, and he used it to set the stage for the meetings in Australia and Bali that are still to come.
The US, said the president, is putting a new emphasis on its relationship with Asia -- a relationship that he foresees will help lift the American economy out of recession.
"No region will do more to shape our long-term economic future than the Asia-Pacific region," Obama said.
"As I have said, the United States is and always will be, a Pacific nation.
"Many of our top trading partners are in this region. This is where we sell most of our exports, supporting some five million American jobs.
"Since this is the world's fastest growing region, the Asia Pacific is key to achieving my goal of doubling US exports."
But the Obama administration knows that Asia policy is about far more than the containers from China that arrive at ports all over the US on a daily basis.
With US forces coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, there will be much talk in both Australia and Bali about strategic alliances.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will sign agreements with President Obama that will significantly increase the access US forces have to bases in Australia.
In part, analysts say that is designed to send a message to China that the US is not yielding power in the Pacific to Beijing.
In Bali, there are expected to be big conversations about China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Former National Security Council official Michael Green said: "The Chinese do not want the phrase 'South China Sea' to appear in any public document.
"They might agree to the words 'freedom of navigation', and we will... continue to keep pressure on China to not use its PLA navy and other military services to push its claims.
"China will claim they've won because the words 'South China Sea' don't appear."
Green added that stuck in the middle of this are Japan and Australia, who are the treaty allies of the US.
He said other countries such as Vietnam would like to "stick it to the Chinese".
"The communique will not reveal much of this, but in the hallways, it will be very intense," Green said.
There will also be discussions on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The two leaders will discuss a range of developments since Obama's visit to India last year.
Centre for Strategic and International Studies Ernie Bower said: "I think there's a sense of balancing that the administration is looking at with regard to the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pakistani relations.
Obama's attendance at the East Asia Summit is significant as no US president has been to the event before.
Coming off the back of APEC, it keeps the US President out of Washington for another full week.
The White House hopes that alone tells the story of the administration's renewed commitment to the region.
- CNA/wk
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