44

No Symmetry in Summitry

‘Abiding Times’, theSun, 20 November 2009

AFTER Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, I expressed hope that his worldwide popularity might create such a gush of goodwill towards his country that he would have unprecedented opportunities to present the USA as a harbinger of hope and the chance to genuinely help to solve problems on the world stage which have persisted for decades.

Many critics savage him for having squandered these opportunities, while others blame the fantastical over-optimism for the anticlimaxes. A Nobel Peace Prize notwithstanding, reviews of his impact on the international stage are mixed. No doubt he’s still very charismatic, but he isn’t effectively stopping Israel from building illegal settlements in Palestinian territory, we’re still waiting for the much-touted policy on Afghanistan, Guantanamo is still there and he didn’t bother to turn up to the celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He has also committed cosmetic inconsistencies and faux pas too: after nodding to Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom earlier in the year, he then ‘semi-bowed’ to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and then ‘deeply bowed’ to Emperor Akihito of Japan, albeit whilst shaking his hand at the same time (which is a breach of etiquette). Nonetheless, the actions have triggered fury amongst some Republicans, who, rather than view this as an attempt to be sensitive to the culture of the host country, see it as subservience to other countries: ‘the President of the United States should bow to no one’. Anyway, he has now set a precedent and if he ever meets our Agong, I will expect him to angkat tangan sembah properly.

“The realpolitik of international diplomacy often casts worthy causes such as the advancement of human rights, individual liberty and democracy to the sidelines.”

Within the USA, Obama’s popularity has now dipped below 50 percent for the first time, and his domestic policy agenda has been a struggle from the get go, particularly with his healthcare reforms—battling the bewildering array of proposed modifications and alternative plans—facing a tough future. That is quite a massive battleground for libertarians and welfare statists which will one day erupt here once our political maturity progresses beyond race-based politics.

President Obama has been in Asia the past few days. His presence was touted to make this year’s APEC meeting in Singapore a bit more special, but alas, it went past with little fanfare, the presence of legions of police outriders outside Singapore’s top hotels probably the greatest evidence of the summit, which always ends with pronouncements to reject all forms of protectionism and commitments to keep markets open and refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade. As promising as these statements are to someone who believes in free trade, the fact is that such statements are so often made with little subsequent action to reduce barriers and tariffs. For his part, our Prime Minister supported the commitment to greater trade and liberalisation. Hopefully, these sentiments apply within Malaysia as well.

The bilateral meetings that take place before, after and on the side of these regional summits are usually more substantial. We now know that the US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement, which has been in the pipeline for years, is now, in the words of our trade minister, ‘as good as gone’. Hope has now shifted to interest expressed by the Obama administration in a regional trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which Singapore and Brunei are members but Malaysia is not.

The State Visit of Hu Jintao to Malaysia seems to have been more successful. Five more Memoranda of Understanding—including a significant one between Bank Negara and the China Banking Regulatory Commission to share information and promote regional financial integration—on top of ones signed in the past strengthened a relationship that will grow in importance.

But perhaps the State Visit of Barack Obama to China was the most significant of the lot. This was definitely a meeting between two equals: in the past, a US President might be able to press the issue of human rights and Tibet with vigour, but Obama merely bleated them out to the disappointment of local dissidents. This power shift has much to do with the economic conditions of the USA, which has much less to offer to China than the USA of the past. Alas, the realpolitik of international diplomacy often casts worthy causes such as the advancement of human rights, individual liberty and democracy to the sidelines. Nonetheless, Obama’s trademark goodwill struck a chord with many ordinary Chinese, in whose hands many reform prospects lie.