Obama's Asia pivot begins with effort to boost U.S.-China relations

President Obama kicked off an eight-day trip to China, Myanmar and Australia by announcing the expansion of a visa program with China, a piece of good news for the often tense relationship between the two countries.

The new program will increase the length of a short-term tourist or business visa from one to ten years, and make student visas valid for five years rather than one. A senior U.S. official predicted it could increase spending by Chinese tourists by $85 billion before 2021.

But several issues linger in the U.S.-China relationship that create distrust between the two countries. Mr. Obama sought to address suspicion about U.S. intentions in Asia when he spoke to a CEO summit at the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation Summit Monday.

"We welcome the rise of a prosperous, peaceful and stable China," Mr. Obama said. "In fact, over recent decades the United States has worked to help integrate China into the global economy--not only because it's in China's best interest, but because it's in America's best interest, and the world's best interest. We want China to do well."

But he also prodded the government to take action on issues that the U.S. sees as an impediment to their working relationship, including fair competition in China and issues of intellectual property theft.

"We look to China to create a more level playing field on which foreign companies are treated fairly so that they can compete fairly with Chinese companies; a playing field where competition policy promotes the welfare of consumers and doesn't benefit just one set of companies over another. We look to China to become an innovative economy that values the protection of intellectual property rights, and rejects cybertheft of trade secrets for commercial gain," the president said.

He also pushed China on its currency, saying the U.S. is looking to China "to move definitively toward a more market-determined exchange rate, and, yes, to stand up for human rights and freedom of the press."

"We don't suggest these things because they're good for us; we suggest that China do these things for the sake of sustainable growth in China, and the stability of the Asia-Pacific region," Mr. Obama added.

On Monday the president also met with leaders of the countries negotiating a major trade deal (without China) called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Talks have stalled over disagreements between the U.S. and Japan about market access and the prospect of Democratic opposition Congress, which much approve such deals.

The Republican takeover of the Senate could pave the way for quick passage of the trade deal, but it's still a long way off. Mr. Obama urged the gathered leaders to "break some of the remaining logjams," but a senior administration official said, "this is not an agreement that is about to get signed." It is unlikely the deal will be completed on this trip.

In addition to those speeches and meetings, Mr. Obama also participated in a bilateral meeting with Indonesia's new president, Joko Widodo. He praised the country for a "full transition . . . to a thriving democracy" and its record of tolerance and isolating extremism among a large Muslim population.

In a separate meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the president discussed the two Americans who were released from North Koreaover the weekend as well as the prospects of opening up relations with the country.

"If North Korea becomes serious about denuclearization on the peninsula and is prepared to have a conversation around that topic, then the United States is going to become very open to trying to arrive at a solution that over the long term could lead to great prosperity and security for North Korea. Until that time there's going to be a core problem between us," he said.

He said the nuclear issue did not come up during negotiations for the hostages.