Hong Kong:
Reaction across Asia to the U.S. elections on Wednesday was muted as attention focused on the planned tour by President Obama to the region, scheduled to begin Friday in India.
Republicans captured control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday and expanded their presence in the Senate. Additional Republican gains in state governorships reflected the voter discontent with Mr. Obama's polices on the country's economy, health care and government spending.
The election results provided few surprises, stirring little official response from governments or media in Asia. Political observers across the region said they did not expect much change in foreign policy.
"There has been very little time to digest the U.S. election results," said Wimoar Witoelar, a political commentator in Indonesia. "The election results won't alter relations between the two countries, and there is also a realization that Obama might rebound in 2012. The economic problems in America are quite severe."
Markets across Asia were up on Wednesday. Gains were small, however, as anticipation grew for details to emerge from the Federal Reserve's meeting. The Fed was expected to engage in another round of Treasury bond purchases to help stimulate the U.S. economy.
In Japan, the government expressed concern that the Republican victories would force Mr. Obama to focus increasingly on domestic politics at the expense of foreign policy. Japan is confronting a stalled economic recovery and is involved in territorial disputes with China and Russia over different groups of islands. Earlier this week, China rejected an American offer to help mediate its dispute with Japan over the group of islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.
"From this point on, the Obama administration will have no alternative but to spend most of its energy in tackling internal problems," an unidentified government official told the Kyodo news service.
Mr. Obama begins a 10-day tour in four Asian nations, beginning Friday in India. It will be the president's longest trip abroad yet and will include stops in Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
Mr. Obama will not visit China, but the Asian giant will play prominently in scheduled talks in the region. Each of the countries the president is visiting has shared worries of the growing political, economic and military prominence of China. Additionally, various Asian nations have had recent disputes with China over unresolved territorial claims in the region and Beijing's support of North Korea.
China played prominently in the American campaigns, with several candidates using TV campaign ads to portray the country as partly responsible for economic woes in the United States.
Still, the Republican takeover of the House will not affect the overall relationship between the United States and China, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. There will be calls among new Republican lawmakers to press China on revaluing its currency and the trade imbalance between the two countries, but the overall tone from the White House will note change, Mr. Shi said.
"The situation between the two countries is already bad," Mr. Shi said. "The anger in the House of Representatives toward China will increase, but the overall influence on policy will be limited."
The House of Representatives has passed a law that would consider an undervalued Chinese currency as an unlawful subsidy. The bill is before the Senate, but it is uncertain if it will pass.
In an editorial published on Wednesday, the state-run China Daily warned American legislators from taking further action on the bill.
"To put it simply, if China and the U.S., the world's two largest trading powers, enter a full-blown trade and currency war, the global trading system will suffer greatly," the editorial said.
Republicans captured control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday and expanded their presence in the Senate. Additional Republican gains in state governorships reflected the voter discontent with Mr. Obama's polices on the country's economy, health care and government spending.
The election results provided few surprises, stirring little official response from governments or media in Asia. Political observers across the region said they did not expect much change in foreign policy.
"There has been very little time to digest the U.S. election results," said Wimoar Witoelar, a political commentator in Indonesia. "The election results won't alter relations between the two countries, and there is also a realization that Obama might rebound in 2012. The economic problems in America are quite severe."
Markets across Asia were up on Wednesday. Gains were small, however, as anticipation grew for details to emerge from the Federal Reserve's meeting. The Fed was expected to engage in another round of Treasury bond purchases to help stimulate the U.S. economy.
In Japan, the government expressed concern that the Republican victories would force Mr. Obama to focus increasingly on domestic politics at the expense of foreign policy. Japan is confronting a stalled economic recovery and is involved in territorial disputes with China and Russia over different groups of islands. Earlier this week, China rejected an American offer to help mediate its dispute with Japan over the group of islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.
"From this point on, the Obama administration will have no alternative but to spend most of its energy in tackling internal problems," an unidentified government official told the Kyodo news service.
Mr. Obama begins a 10-day tour in four Asian nations, beginning Friday in India. It will be the president's longest trip abroad yet and will include stops in Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
Mr. Obama will not visit China, but the Asian giant will play prominently in scheduled talks in the region. Each of the countries the president is visiting has shared worries of the growing political, economic and military prominence of China. Additionally, various Asian nations have had recent disputes with China over unresolved territorial claims in the region and Beijing's support of North Korea.
China played prominently in the American campaigns, with several candidates using TV campaign ads to portray the country as partly responsible for economic woes in the United States.
Still, the Republican takeover of the House will not affect the overall relationship between the United States and China, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University. There will be calls among new Republican lawmakers to press China on revaluing its currency and the trade imbalance between the two countries, but the overall tone from the White House will note change, Mr. Shi said.
"The situation between the two countries is already bad," Mr. Shi said. "The anger in the House of Representatives toward China will increase, but the overall influence on policy will be limited."
The House of Representatives has passed a law that would consider an undervalued Chinese currency as an unlawful subsidy. The bill is before the Senate, but it is uncertain if it will pass.
In an editorial published on Wednesday, the state-run China Daily warned American legislators from taking further action on the bill.
"To put it simply, if China and the U.S., the world's two largest trading powers, enter a full-blown trade and currency war, the global trading system will suffer greatly," the editorial said.
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