Obama starts Asia tour

“The United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity,” he said in Tokyo as he launched his four-nation tour.

“The alliance between the United States and Japan is a foundation for security and prosperity, not just for our two countries, but for the Asian-Pacific region,” said Obama at a press conference alongside Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

The U.S. president's trip, just over a year after he won the election to the White House, is designed to shore up U.S. power in a region increasingly dominated by rising giant China.

Obama — travelling without his wife Michelle — leaves a clutch of domestic crises behind as he seeks to counter charges that U.S. influence has frayed in Asia, with Washington distracted by its deep economic slump and the sapping wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Tokyo, he promised Americans a “transparent” decision soon on whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, after apparent divides within his administration on strategy were leaked to the press.

The U.S. president also sought to ease a simmering row with Japan over U.S. bases on the southern island of Okinawa, where the U.S. military presence is intensely controversial and has strained ties between the decades-old allies.

“Our goal remains the same, that is to provide for the defence of Japan with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share the space.”

But Hatoyama, who ended half a century of conservative political domination, has vowed that Japan will be more assertive in its U.S. alliance and said he may scrap an unpopular plan to relocate a U.S. military base on Okinawa.

“This is an issue with difficulties. But it will get more difficult to solve as time goes by,” said the premier, who has been in office for just two months.

On the next leg of his trip, Obama will meet many regional leaders for the first time at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore.

He will also become the first U.S. president to sit down with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including U.S. foe Myanmar.

Obama will then head to China in the three-day centrepiece of his tour, with top global security issues, along with trade and currency differences, on the agenda, before wrapping up his trip in South Korea.

But he will not specifically mention Tibet in his speech on Asia policy on Saturday, a senior aide said, following claims Washington has downplayed the issue to avoid angering China.

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