"White House Media Affairs Office" <whitehouse-lists-noreply@list.whitehouse.gov>
EMBARGOED: Remarks of President Barack Obama at Suntory Hall
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________
Embargoed until Delivery
November 14, 2009
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Suntory Hall
Tokyo, Japan
November 14, 2009
Good morning. It is a great honor to be in Tokyo-the first stop on my first
visit to Asia as President. It's good to be among so many of you - Japanese
and Americans - who work every day to strengthen the bonds between our
two countries, including my longtime friend and our new ambassador to Japan,
John Roos.
It is wonderful to be back in Japan. When I was a young boy, my mother
brought me to Kamakura, where I looked up at that centuries-old symbol of peace
and tranquility - the great bronze Amida Buddha. As a child, I was more focused
on the matcha ice cream. But I have never forgotten the warmth and hospitality
that the Japanese people showed a young American far from home.
I feel that same spirit on this visit. In the gracious welcome of Prime Minister
Hatoyama. In the honor of meeting with Their Imperial Majesties, the Emperor and
Empress on the 20th anniversary of his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
In the hospitality shown by the Japanese people. And of course, I could not come
here without sending greetings and my gratitude to the citizens of Obama, Japan.
I am beginning my journey here for a simple reason. Since taking office, I have
worked to renew American leadership and pursue a new era of engagement with
the world based on mutual interests and mutual respect. And our efforts in the Asia
Pacific will be rooted, in no small measure, through an enduring and revitalized
alliance between the United States and Japan.
From my first days in office, we have worked to strengthen the ties that bind our
nations. The first foreign leader that I welcomed to the White House was the prime
minister of Japan, and for the first time in nearly fifty years, the first foreign trip by an
American secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, was to Asia, starting in Japan.
In two months, our alliance will mark its 50th anniversary - a day when President
Dwight Eisenhower stood next to Japan's Prime Minister and said that our two
nations were creating "an indestructible partnership" based on "equality and mutual
understanding."
In the half century since, that alliance has endured as a foundation of our security
and prosperity. It has helped us become the world's two largest economies, with
Japan emerging as America's second-largest trading partner outside of North
America. It has evolved as Japan has played a larger role on the world stage, and
made important contributions to stability around the world - from reconstruction in
Iraq, to combating piracy off the Horn of Africa, to assistance for the people of
Afghanistan and Pakistan - most recently through its remarkable leadership in
providing additional commitments to international development efforts there.
Above all, our alliance has endured because it reflects our common values - a belief
in the democratic right of free people to choose their own leaders and realize their
own dreams; a belief that made possible the election of both Prime Minister
Hatoyama and myself on the promise of change. And together, we are committed to
providing a new generation of leadership for our people, and our alliance.
That is why, at this critical moment in history, the two of us have not only reaffirmed
our alliance - we have agreed to deepen it. We have agreed to move expeditiously
through a joint working group to implement the agreement that our two governments
reached on restructuring US forces in Okinawa. And as our alliance evolves and
adapts for the future, we will always strive to uphold the spirit that President
Eisenhower described long ago - a partnership of equality and mutual respect.
But while our commitment to this region begins in Japan, it does not end here. The
United States of America may have started as a series of ports and cities along the
Atlantic, but for generations we also have been a nation of the Pacific. Asia and the
United States are not separated by this great ocean; we are bound by it. We are
bound by our past - by the Asian immigrants who helped build America, and the
generations of Americans in uniform who have served and sacrificed to keep this
region secure and free. We are bound by our shared prosperity - by the trade and
commerce upon which millions of jobs and families depend. And we are bound by
our people - by the Asian Americans who enrich every segment of American life. and
all the people whose lives, like our countries, are interwoven.
My own life is a part of that story. I am an American President who was born in
Hawaii and lived in Indonesia as a boy. My sister Maya was born in Jakarta, and
later married a Chinese-Canadian. My mother spent nearly a decade working in the
villages of Southeast Asia, helping women buy a sewing machine or an education
that might give them a foothold in the world economy. So the Pacific rim has helped
shape my view of the world.
Since that time, perhaps no region has changed as swiftly or dramatically. Controlled
economies have given way to open markets. Dictatorships have become
democracies. Living standards have risen while poverty has plummeted. And
through all these changes, the fortunes of America and the Asia Pacific have become
more closely linked than ever before.
So I want every American to know that we have a stake in the future of this region,
because what happens here has a direct affect on our lives at home. This is where
we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where
we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process.
This is a place where the risk of a nuclear arms race threatens the security of the
wider world, and where extremists who defile a great religion plan attacks on both our
continents. And there can be no solution to our energy security and our climate
challenge without the rising powers and developing nations of the Asia Pacific.
To meet these common challenges, the United States looks to strengthen old
alliances and build new partnerships with the nations of this region. To do this, we
look to America's treaty alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and
the Philippines - alliances that are not historical documents from a bygone era, but
abiding commitments to each other that are fundamental to our shared security.
These alliances continue to provide the bedrock of security and stability that has
allowed the nations and peoples of this region to pursue opportunity and prosperity
that was unimaginable at the time of my first visit to Japan. And even as American
troops are engaged in two wars around the world, our commitment to Japan's security
and to Asian security is unshakeable, and it can be seen in our deployments
throughout the region -above all, through our young men and women in uniform.
We look to emerging nations that are poised to play a larger role - both in the Asia
Pacific region and the wider world. Places like Indonesia and Malaysia that have
adopted democracy, developed their economies, and tapped the great potential of
their own people.
We look to rising powers with the view that in the 21st century, the national security
and economic growth of one country need not come at the expense of another. I
know there are many who question how the United States perceives China's
emergence. But as I have said - in an inter-connected world, power does not need to
be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success of another. Cultivating
spheres of cooperation - not competing spheres of influence - will lead to progress in
the Asia Pacific.
As with any nation, America will approach China with a focus on our interests. And it
is precisely for this reason that it is important to pursue pragmatic cooperation with
China on issues of mutual concern - because no one nation can meet the challenges
of the 21st century alone, and the United States and China will both be better off
when we are able to meet them together. That is why we welcome China's efforts to
play a greater role on the world stage - a role in which their growing economy is
joined by growing responsibility. China's partnership has proved critical in our effort to
jumpstart economic recovery. China has promoted security and stability in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it is now committed to the global nonproliferation
regime, and supporting the pursuit of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
So the United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship
with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances. On the contrary, the rise of a
strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations.
And so in Beijing and beyond, we will work to deepen our Strategic and Economic
Dialogue, and improve communication between our militaries. We will not agree on
every issue, and the United States will never waver in speaking up for the fundamental
values that we hold dear - and that includes respect for the religion and cultures of all
people. Because support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America.
But we can move these discussions forward in a spirit of partnership rather than rancor.
In addition to our bilateral relations, we also believe that the growth of multilateral
organizations can advance the security and prosperity of this region. I know that the
United States has been disengaged from these organizations in recent years. So let
me be clear: those days have passed. As an Asia Pacific nation, the United States
expects to be involved in the discussions that shape the future of this region, and to
participate fully in appropriate organizations as they are established and evolve.
That is the work that I will begin on this trip. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum will continue to promote regional commerce and prosperity, and I look forward
to participating in that forum tomorrow. ASEAN will remain a catalyst for Southeast
Asian dialogue, cooperation and security, and I look forward to becoming the first
American President to meet with all ten of its leaders. And the United States looks
forward to engaging with the East Asia Summit more formally as it plays a role in
addressing the challenges of our time.
We seek this deeper and broader engagement because we know our collective future
depends on it. And I'd like to speak for a bit about what that future can look like, and
what we must do to advance our prosperity, our security, and our universal values and
aspirations.
First, we must strengthen our economic recovery, and pursue growth that is both
balanced and sustained.
The quick, unprecedented and coordinated action taken by Asia Pacific nations and
others has averted economic catastrophe, and helped us begin to emerge from the
worst recession in generations. And we have taken the historic step of reforming our
international economic architecture, so that the G-20 is now the premier forum for
international economic cooperation.
This shift to the G-20 - along with the greater voice that is being given to Asian
nations in international financial institutions – clearly demonstrates the broader and
more inclusive engagement that America seeks in the 21st century. And as a key
member of the G-8, Japan has and will continue to play a leading role in shaping the
future of the international financial architecture.
Now that we are on the brink of economic recovery, we must also ensure that it can
be sustained. We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led
us into a global recession. We cannot follow the same policies that led to such
imbalanced growth. One of the important lessons this recession has taught us is the
limits of depending primarily on American consumers and Asian exports to drive
growth. Because when Americans found themselves in debt or out of work, demand
for Asian goods plummeted. When demand fell sharply, exports from this region fell
sharply. Since the economies of this region are so dependent on exports, they
stopped growing. And the global recession only deepened.
We have now reached one of those rare inflection points in history where we have the
opportunity to take a different path. And that must begin with the G20 pledge that we
made in Pittsburgh to pursue a new strategy for balanced economic growth.
I'll be saying more about this in Singapore, but in the United States, this new strategy
will mean saving more and spending less, reforming our financial system and
reducing our long-term deficit. It will also mean a greater emphasis on exports that
we can build, produce, and sell all over the world. For America, this is a jobs
strategy. Right now, our exports support millions upon millions of well-paying
American jobs. Increasing those exports by just a small amount has the potential to
create millions more. These are jobs making everything from wind turbines and solar
panels to the technology you use every day.
For Asia, striking this better balance will provide an opportunity for workers and
consumers to enjoy higher standards of living that their remarkable increases in
productivity have made possible. It will allow for greater investments in housing,
infrastructure, and the service sector. And a more balanced global economy will lead
to prosperity that reaches further and deeper.
For decades, the United States has had one of the most open markets in the world,
and that openness has helped fuel the success of so many countries in this region
and others over the last century. In this new era, opening other markets around the
globe will be critical not just to America's prosperity, but to the world's.
An integral part of this new strategy is working toward an ambitious and balanced
Doha agreement - not any agreement, but an agreement that will open up markets
and increase exports around the world. We are ready to work with our Asian partners
to see if we can achieve that objective in a timely fashion - and we invite our regional
trading partners to join us at the table.
We also believe that continued integration of the economies of this region will benefit
workers, consumers, and businesses in all of our nations. Together, with our South
Korean friends, we will work through the issues necessary to move forward on a trade
agreement with them. The United States will also be engaging with the Trans Pacific
partnership countries with the goal of shaping a regional agreement that will have
broad-based membership and the high standards worthy of a 21st century trade agreement.
Working in partnership, this is how we can sustain this recovery and advance our
common prosperity. But it's not enough to pursue growth that is balanced. We also
need growth that is sustainable - for our planet and the future generations that will live
here.
Already, the United States has taken more steps to combat climate change in ten
months than we have in our recent history: by embracing the latest science, investing
in new energy, raising efficiency standards, forging new partnerships, and engaging in
international climate negotiations. In short, America knows there is more work to do -
but we are meeting our responsibility, and will continue to do so.
That includes striving for success in Copenhagen. I have no illusions that this will be
easy, but the contours of a way forward are clear. All nations must accept their
responsibility. Those nations - like my own - who have been the leading emitters
must have clear reduction targets. Developing countries will need to take substantial
actions to curb their emissions, aided by finance and technology. And there must be
transparency and accountability for domestic actions.
Each of us must do what we can to grow our economies without endangering our
planet - and we must do it together. But the good news is that if we put the right
rules and incentives in place, it will unleash the creative power of our best scientists,
engineers, and entrepreneurs. It will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and entire
new industries.
Yet, even as we confront this challenge of the 21st century, we must also redouble
our efforts to meet a threat to our security that is the legacy of the 20th century - the
danger posed by nuclear weapons.