What will Obama mean for Asia?

Thu, November 13 2008
South Asian Post (Canada)

"Obama’s negativity on preferential trade agreements with Asian nations has Cambodia concerned about the threat to its textile exports."

The marginalized Untouchables of India have labeled him an “American Dalit”.

Filipino politicians are riding on his popularity by adding Obama monikers to their names.

The Japanese town of Obama can’t stop doing the hula.

Everybody in Indonesia now has a friend of a friend who knew a friend from the Menteng 1 Elementary School in Jakarta where Obama was educated in his younger years.

Yes, there is elation all over Asia over the matter of the first black man to run the White House.

And most of us want to be connected to him and his gospel of change.

But what will Obama mean for Asia?

Asian giants like China, Japan and India are raising concerns over whether the Democratic-president elect of the United States will retain any of the relationships built by the Republicans or ruin them.

China in its congratulatory message to Obama included a subtle reminder to the New America not to recognize the democratic Taiwan, which it contends is part of its communist empire.

They also want a change from the Republican philosophy which favored Taiwan with military exports.

Some anti-Beijing commentators are already pointing out that while Obama has chastised China about pollution, he has been quiet about China’s human rights abuses and like his predecessors, is going down the “China exception” path.

They point to his China-excluded campaign speech in Berlin where he asked: “Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe?”

As Obama the orator gets ready to step into the Oval office, the American financial crisis is worsening. This will undoubtedly impact on what he needs to do for America versus what America needs to do for the world.

Japan and South Korea have already expressed worries that the sagging American economy will force Obama to implement protectionist policies in the interest of keeping his campaign promises.

Both nations are also perturbed with Obama’s planned relations with communist North Korea.

There has been a frightening chill in the Korean peninsula as the North continuously berates the South, while the South threatens to get tough with Pyongyang until nuclear issues are resolved.

Many in Japan have viewed the recent removal of nuclear-hungry North Korea from the U.S. terrorism blacklist as an indication of degrading America-Japanese ties. Japan blames North Korea for the abduction of up to one hundred of its citizens over the last four decades.

In the Philippines, John McCain was more popular than Barack Obama in a Gallup poll.

While his racial first was hailed, many in the Southeast Asian nation of islands are fearful of Obama who has voiced skepticism about the outsourcing of jobs by US companies to Asia.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose congratulatory phone call was not accepted by Obama, is also worried that America will withdraw its 600-strong military unit, which is helping battle Islamic extremists and communist rebels in South Philippines.

Obama’s negativity on preferential trade agreements with Asian nations has Cambodia concerned about the threat to its textile exports.

Members of the ASEAN grouping in Southeast Asia all have individual issues with America, but experts have indicated that any new policy in this region will be directly linked to how Obama and Beijing get along.

While Washington is not expected to get directly involved with local politics, it can be expected that Obama’s White House will tacitly approve of a change in Malaysia to a rule by the maverick Anwar Ibrahim.

India views Obama with apprehension on many fronts.

In a country that has been a priority for the Bush administration which allowed it to resume civilian nuclear imports, India has been rankled by the 20 minute phone call to Pakistan’s Zardari. This was done before any communication with New Delhi.

Obama also wants to use the long-standing India-Pakistan dispute in Kashmir as the key to dealing with the Afghanistan conflict.

He is of the opinion that Pakistan will commit itself more forcefully to defeating Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, if the US offered it carrots in Kashmir.

India has responded swiftly saying that the US has no place in the Kashmir dispute because it is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

The Times of India commented: “There is little clarity on how the chips will fall on several issues..Pakistan, China, terrorism, nuclear issues, trade, all issues on which India has had a prickly relationship with the Democratic Party.”

History will record that Obama brought change to America.

How this change impacted Asia will likely be another story.