Obama to visit China, Laos in September

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama will make history in September when he becomes the first American president to visit Laos on an international tour that will also take him to China, the White House announced Thursday.

The Sept. 2-9 trip will begin in China where Obama will attend the Sept. 4-5 G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China.

“This trip will highlight the president’s ongoing commitment to the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation as well as the U.S. Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific,” spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement.

While in Hangzhou, Obama will also hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping amidst heightened tensions in the U.S.-Sino relationship that have been exacerbated by territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

China claims a maritime border known as the “nine dash line” that includes most of the sea.

Although Beijing maintains that the area has historically been Chinese, its maritime claims overlap with waters claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Tensions have been high since a tribunal at The Hague ruled July 12 that the nine dash line has no basis in international law following a lawsuit brought forth against Beijing by the Philippines.

For its part, the U.S. has conducted maritime operations in the sea that it says are meant to ensure freedom of navigation. But China views the maneuvers as a hostile act and has repeatedly scrambled jets and warships in response.

After departing China, Obama will visit Laos where he will participate in the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.

The White House said Obama would coordinate with regional leaders at the East Asia Summit to “advance a rules-based international order.”

Obama will also meet with Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith and other Laotian officials “to advance U.S.-Lao cooperation on economic, development, and people-to-people ties, among other areas,” Earnest said.

This tour will mark Obama’s eleventh trip to Asia since he assumed office in 2009, according to the White House.