Obama's visit to highlight emphasis on Asia

U.S. President Barack Obama will embark on his first Asian trip next week, with analysts saying Asia is weighing increasingly heavily on U.S. foreign policy.

The tour will start in Tokyo and conclude in Seoul, with stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. While in Singapore, the U.S. president is scheduled to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, as well as his first ever meeting with leaders of the 10 Southeast Asian nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

IMPORTANCE OF ASIA

The president will travel to Asia "to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the world on a range of issues of mutual interest," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Kurt Tong, the senior U.S. APEC official, said at a briefing this week that a number of top U.S. officials would attend the APEC summit, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, U.S. Trade Representative RonKirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Experts say that speaks volumes about the Obama administration's desire to play a greater role in Asia. In contrast, Condoleezza Rice was Bush's only cabinet official to attend last year's APEC meeting.

Themes will include the global economic recovery, resisting protectionism, regional economic integration and economic growth that is "less prone to booms and busts," according to Tong.

Tong billed the hefty presence of top U.S. officials as a bid to ramp up U.S. participation. "It's really quite a concerted and very enthusiastic embrace of the APEC meetings and APEC as an institution by the United States, as evidenced by that participation," Tong said.

Some experts say that is a major difference from the Bush administration, which was too busy with Middle East concerns to fully engage Asia.

Domestic and Middle East concerns should not diminish expectations for the trip, nor would they distract the administration from playing a greater role in the region, said Andy Johnson, director of the national security program at the Washington, D.C.-based Third Way.