The US President Is Finally Coming To Malaysia After 48 Years
Published by Mei Mei Chu
President Barack Obama will be making a historic trip to Malaysia from 26 April 2014 to 28 April 2014.
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US President Barack Obama Will Finally Make A Historic Visit To Malaysia From The 26 April 2014 To 28 April 2014
- President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced he will visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines in April, six months after a scrapped tour of the region raised questions about his commitment to an increasingly influential region of the world.
- Obama is due to meet with the leaders of all four nations, and plans to address diplomatic, economic and security issues, the White House said.
Obama Will Be The First US President To Visit Malaysia In 48 Years
- Obama arrives here on Saturday on a historic trip, the first by a sitting US president in 48 years after President Lyndon B. Johnson came way back in 1966.
- First Lady Michelle will not be accompanying Obama, who was initially scheduled to visit Malaysia last October. The trip was postponed due to the budget standoff in Washington.
Obama Is Scheduled To Have A Press Conference With Najib And Attend A Town-Hall Event At University Malaya During His Three Day Visit
- Mr Obama is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with Mr Najib on Sunday. The US president is also due to attend a town-hall event at Malaya University with young regional leaders and meet civil society groups.
- 20 Malaysians will come face-to-face with the President of the United States in an interactive session here next Sunday. Obama is scheduled to launch the Young South-East Asian Leaders Initiative – an effort to build relationships across South-East Asia through the engagement of young people – at Universiti Malaya.
- The president will also visit Masjid Negara and meet Malaysian civil society leaders before leaving for the Philippines on Monday.
His Visit Comes Amidst Anti-US Sentiment Growing In Malaysia Stoked By MH370 Conspiracy Theories
- Mr Obama’s visit to the Muslim-majority country comes amid anti-US sentiment stoked by wild speculation in the government-controlled media over the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. This is despite the fact that US agencies have helped search for the plane and assisted the criminal investigation into the cause of its disappearance.
- The government-owned Utusan Malaysia newspaper last month published a report claiming the US was involved in the plane’s disappearance in an elaborate plot to damage ties between Malaysia and China. The government took several days to refute the claim.
While Obama Will Be Meeting The Prime Minister, He Has Not Planned To Visit Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim
- US officials said Friday that Obama did not plan to see Anwar while he is in Kuala Lumpur, marking the first visit by a sitting US president to the Southeast Asian nation in nearly half a century. They did not rule-out a lower level meeting.
- US national security advisor Susan Rice said while Obama was unlikely to meet Anwar "there may be other engagements at other levels" without elaborating.
Anwar Says He Is Not Upset But A Meeting With Obama Would Have Been Consistent With US Democratic Ideals
- Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today a meeting with US President Barack Obama during a coming visit to Malaysia would have been "consistent with US democratic ideals", after Washington said there would be no such encounter.
- But Anwar, who was convicted of sodomy in March and whose opposition is engaged in a fierce political battle with Malaysia's longtime government, stopped short of criticising the US president.
- "I am not upset," he told AFP, but he added that a meeting would have been "helpful" and "consistent with US democratic ideals and its foreign policy of promoting freedom and justice."
The Ministry Of International Trade And Industry Has Assured That Malaysia Will Not Be Signing The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) During Obama's Visit
- Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, has indicated that no trade agreement will be signed during US President Barack Obama's visit but a lot of issues will be discussed to strengthen bilateral relationship.
- He said Obama's visit to Malaysia, the first by a US president since President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, would discuss various issues including economic, defence, education and entrepreneurship. "It's an opportunity for us to share our issues and challenges of concern," he told reporters after officiating the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce's (AMCHAM) new office here today.
- Meanwhile, Sanjeev said, the visit was significant in many ways as the ties between both countries were improving amid the efforts from the current administration of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. "The foundation of the relationship is the investment and trade ties. The visit will help strengthen it and give a further impetus to the foundation," he said.
However, Anti TPPA Groups Are Not Convinced. They Say Obama's Trip To Japan Before Visiting Malaysia Will Add Pressure On Malaysia To Sign The Agreement.
- Politicians associated with the parliamentary opposition have called for a public protest against US President Barrack Obama’s visit to Malaysia, saying it may result in more pressure being piled on Putrajaya to sign the controversial Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
- Leaders from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and Pakatan Rakyat said today that Obama was coming to seek progress on the TPPA and would make it hard for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak not to sign the trade pact.
- “Obama is visiting Japan before Malaysia,” he said. “If he can do a deal in Japan, then the rest of the TPPA will probably be concluded quite quickly. “With Japan on his side, Obama could threaten Najib that Malaysia will lose out if it still puts forward sensitive issues in the TPPA negotiations.” He also said Obama, who is arriving this Saturday, might capitalise on the disappearance of Flight MH370 and the kidnapping case in Sabah to press its case.
- The US might offer security enhancement as a trade-off if Malaysia compromises on its red lines in the TPPA. The US regime has always used trade and security hand in hand to twist arms of nations to accept its economic hegemony “PSM fears that the weak Najib Tun Razak would submit to Obama’s request.”
