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Updated Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:22 am TWN, By Matt Spetalnick and Ross Colvin, Reuters

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U.S. president to seek deeper Asia-Pacific ties

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to deepen U.S. ties in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of rising Chinese influence there when he visits Indonesia and Australia next week.

After delaying his trip by three days to focus on his push for a U.S. healthcare overhaul, Obama is now due to leave on Sunday on his first overseas tour of the year. Aides who briefed reporters on Monday said he hopes to advance U.S. trade and security interests with two key partners.

Here are some questions and answers about Obama's March 21-26 trip:

Why Is He Going to the South Pacific?

Obama will be trying to build on a broader trip to Asia last November when he attended a summit in Singapore and made his first presidential visit to China. Critics said that tour yielded few tangible gains.

This time, Obama will be focused on Indonesia and Australia, which his aides number among a group of “middle powers” wielding greater clout internationally on issues ranging from global regulatory reform to climate change.

They are also seen as counterweights to an increasingly assertive China, Washington's biggest economic rival, at a time when Sino-U.S. tensions are high over Beijing's currency practices, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and Obama's meeting last month with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Aides framed the trip to the economically dynamic region as crucial to Obama's vow to double U.S. exports in five years.

Why Is He Starting Out in Guam?

Besides being a good refueling point on the way to Jakarta, Guam — a major hub of U.S. military power in the Pacific — will serve as a useful place to underline Washington's security commitment in the region.

Obama will address local residents and U.S. military personnel in his stop in the tiny U.S. territory. But China, with its growing military might, and Japan, locked in a dispute with the Obama administration over the future of a huge U.S. military base on Okinawa, will surely be listening as well.

What's on the Agenda in Indonesia?

Obama's visit to the world's most populous Muslim nation aims to capitalize on the president's close ties to the country where he spent four years as a boy.

Obama, who styles himself as “America's first Pacific president,” is due to sign a comprehensive partnership with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that will seek to improve cooperation in a number of areas, including education, security, healthcare, energy and trade.

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