Mr.President

 

Barack Obama's visit to Thailand

 

 

 

    

BANGKOK — U.S. President Barack Obama‘s visit to Thailand was Sunday’s news in Bangkok, but another top leader is making his way to the Southeast Asian country in the next few days: China’s Premier Wen Jiabao.

 
Mr. Wen arrives on Tuesday as part of a quick tour around the region marking his departure from office following a generational reshuffle in the ruling Communist Party in Beijing. His first stop is the annual ASEAN summitry in Cambodia, which culminates on Tuesday morning.

 

 

Despite being named as a major non-NATO ally by former President George W. Bush in 2003, Thailand also has an unusually strong relationship with China. Thai firms such as agribusiness conglomerate CP Group were among the first foreign investors into China when it began opening up in the 1980s. Thailand’s Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is also a frequent visitor to China, where she is considered a respected scholar of Chinese culture and literature.

 

 
  

 

Reflecting the importance of Thailand’s relationship with China, Mr. Wen is scheduled to receive an audience with revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the hospital where the 84-year-old monarch has been living for several years–just like the one Mr. Obama was to receive.

For some commentators, this raises awkward questions for Thailand about where its allegiances lie. A number of analysts worry that the country’s interest in joining the U.S.-driven Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks might upset China, which so far isn’t part of the discussions and has pushed for expanded trade ties in East Asia instead.

Thai officials, though, say they aren’t taking aides. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters Saturday in Bangkok that Thailand at this point is only studying the pros and cons of joining the TPP, while Foreign Minister Surpong Tovichakchaikul said both China and the U.S. can play out their strategic ambitions in Southeast Asia without igniting existing tensions.

“We do not see China as a threat of an aggressive power,” Mr. Surapong said in an interview in Cambodia at the summit, which both American and Chinese leaders will attend. “At the same time, we see the U.S. re-engagement with Asia as a welcoming sign, reflecting the recognition that Asia is the world’s growth engine.”

Thailand’s balancing act is difficult to execute, though, and is one which will likely become increasingly difficult to perform as the U.S. steps up its pivot back to East Asia, analysts suggest. Prapat Thepchatri, Southeast Asian Studies professor at Bangkok’s Thammasat University reckons the TPP in particular could unsettle relations because of the tussle between Beijing and Washington for influence over trade in region. If China perceives Thailand as siding with the U.S., he reckons, “that might make China unhappy.”