RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.—President Barack Obama and the leaders of Southeast Asian nations are gathering in Southern California for an unprecedented two days of talks on economic and security issues and on forging deeper ties amid China’s assertive presence in the region.
Obama on Monday will welcome each leader from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, for a summit at Sunnylands, a storied California desert estate where Obama held his first meeting with China’s current president.
This is the first time the leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have assembled in the U.S. at Obama’s invitation and not on the margins of another gathering. China is not a member of ASEAN.
The summit was conceived as part of Obama’s mission to raise the U.S. profile and help set the agenda in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific, where China’s territorial claims over disputed waters have raised international concerns and led to friction with ASEAN countries.
Member countries make up the world’s seventh-largest economy and represent the fourth-largest trading partner with the U.S.
