11 years ago
Due to the shutting down of the U.S. government over a budget battle, President Barack Obama was forced to pare back and then cancel altogether planned visits to four Southeast Asian nations. The first two casualties were planned trips to two nations, Malaysia and the Philippines, where Obama hoped to cement economic and trade relations under the umbrella of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With no end in sight to the U.S. government’s paralysis, Obama reluctantly canceled his planned attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali, Indonesia and the East Asia Summit in Brunei.
