Obama's Schedule in Indonesia and Australia

Update March 18: Obama postpones trip until June to get healthcare done.

This is from Ben Rhodes' conference call regarding Obama's upcoming trip to Australia and Indonesia. Obama leaves on Sunday, March 21, after signing healthcare legislation (she hopes). Here is a sketch of his schedule:

he first stop on the trip for the President is in Guam. We’ll be in Guam Monday, March 22. And that evening, Guam time, the President will be hosting a public event where he’ll be able to speak to both our -- the community in Guam and of course some of the military personnel that the United States has in Guam. Later in the call Dennis can field questions about this portion of the trip.

The next day, on Tuesday, the 23rd, we’ll be making our way to Indonesia. The President will be greeted with an arrival ceremony and there will be several events associated with that arrival ceremony, which we’ll be giving you more specifics on as we get closer to the day. But that first day he’ll have a bilateral meeting with the President of Indonesia. And following that bilateral meeting they’ll host a joint press conference. Then that night the President will be hosted at a state dinner by the Indonesians, which he very much looks forward to.

The following day, Wednesday, the 24th, the President will be giving a speech. This speech, of course, will be an opportunity for him to discuss the comprehensive partnership that we’re developing with Indonesia and with the Indonesian people. Of course this is a country that the President has personal experience in, having lived there for four years as a child; having a sister who’s half Indonesian; and his mother of course worked extensively in Indonesia for 20 years. So he’ll be able to speak to his connections to the country.

And he’ll also be able to discuss the efforts that the United States cooperates with Indonesia on as it relates to democracy and as it relates to Indonesia’s position as a country with the world’s largest Muslim-majority population, as well as a country with a strong history of pluralism. And in some respects it will be of course his first trip to a Muslim-majority country since he was in Egypt and delivered his speech in Cairo, so he’ll be able to speak to some of the progress that’s been made and that needs to be made on the issue that he spoke to in Cairo, as well.

The rest of that day -- we look forward to making some additional cultural stops as well as the President will be meeting with some business leaders in the region to highlight again America’s growing economic ties with Indonesia. We believe that this can be an economic relationship that can serve our mutual interests and will be part of, of course, the President’s efforts to deepen our economic relationship across the region.

He’ll also be meeting with Indonesian parliamentary leaders as a part of his effort to, again, reach out and speak to a broad cross-section of Indonesia’s government and society.

Then we’ll be moving on to Bali. And on Thursday, March 25th, the President will host a civil society event in Bali. The reason that we’re choosing Bali to highlight this particular issue is that Bali is host to the Bali Democracy Forum, which is a signature initiative of the President of Indonesia’s and a very positive effort, again, to advance democracy and civil society in the region and around the world.

So President Obama will have an opportunity in Bali to meet with a group of civil society leaders in order to highlight the important role of civil society in the emergence of Indonesia’s democracy, and also how that might -- that effort might support civil society across the region. And to that end, we’ll be inviting civil society groups from other parts of Southeast Asia as well to discuss issues related to political participation, freedom of information, and human rights, broadly speaking.

After the President is in Bali, we will move on to Canberra. And here I’d just stop and say that, of course, Australia is increasingly -- is a longstanding ally of the United States, an increasingly important ally in both the region and the world. In many ways it’s a model alliance for the United States. We have very robust cooperation with the Australians on security issues, economic issues, environmental issues. They’re obviously a close partner of us in Afghanistan, where they’ve been steadfast in their support there. We run a very positive trade relationship with Australia that supports American jobs and supports economic prosperity for both Australians and Americans. And of course, we’ve cooperated closely on clean energy issues and efforts to combat climate change, Australia also being a partner through the G20. And the President will be underscoring this alliance throughout his time in Australia.

He’ll begin that night with a dinner with Prime Minister Rudd, who’s been a particularly close partner of the President’s both bilaterally on a personal basis, and also in international forums. So the President is looking forward to the opportunity to share this time with Prime Minister Rudd in Canberra.

The next day, on Friday the 26th, we will have a very robust program of events. The President will meet with the Governor General in the morning. Then he will have a series of -- he’ll have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Rudd, building on the work, the discussions they’ll have at dinner. Following that bilateral meeting, we anticipate a joint press conference. Read the transcript

Obama Family Travels to Indonesia and Australia in March

Robert Gibbs announced the trip at today's press briefing:

MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Before we get started with your questions, let me make a brief announcement.

The President and the First Lady will be traveling to Indonesia and Australia in the second half of March. This trip is an important part of the President's continued effort to broaden and strengthen the partnerships that are necessary to advance our security and prosperity. Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, the third largest democracy; is home to the largest Muslim population in the world; and an important partner in the G20.

During his visit the President will formally launch the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership, an initiative through which the United States will broaden and strengthen relations with Indonesia to tackle important regional and global issues.

In addition, this year also marks the 70th anniversary of U.S.-Australia relations. The President looks forward to commemorating that milestone and consulting with Prime Minister Rudd on ways that we can build on the strong relationship between our two countries and discuss issues such as global economic recovery, clean energy and climate change, non-proliferation and Afghanistan.

En route to Asia the President will visit Guam, where he will speak with U.S. service members on the island. We'll have more specific dates for you shortly after they are completely done with the pre-advance.

Q Before or after the NCAA brackets are announced? (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: I know that is weighing heavily on many traveling members' minds and we will seek to plan accordingly.

Q Will he visit childhood haunts in Indonesia?

MR. GIBBS: I'd anticipate that that will likely be one of the stops.

Q Is the whole family coming?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

Q Coincides with spring vacation for two little girls?

MR. GIBBS: Likely, yes.

Q Any plan for India trip?

MR. GIBBS: Not on this trip.

Read the rest of Gibbs' press briefing here.

Video if you'd rather watch:

Obama Travels to China in November Then Meets Dalai Lama

Obama is headed to China next month. Obama needs China's help with Iran and North Korea and is looking past China's human rights issues:

The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies as well as backing efforts to elevate China's position in international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund. Obama administration officials have termed the new policy "strategic reassurance," which entails the U.S. government taking steps to convince China that it is not out to contain the emerging Asian power. WaPo

The media is reporting that Obama postponed a meetup with the Dalai Lama who is in D.C. this week but the White House says the meeting wasn't postponed because there wasn't one in the first place:

A senior administration official denied that the Dalai Lama had sought a meeting with Obama in October and "instead he would like to see him in December." He said it was "counter-factual" to assume that a meeting had been postponed. The official briefed a reporter on the condition that his name not be used. WaPo

The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies as well as backing efforts to elevate China's position in international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund. Obama administration officials have termed the new policy "strategic reassurance," which entails the U.S. government taking steps to convince China that it is not out to contain the emerging Asian power. WaPo

Obama wants to try something new for China and Tibet:

U.S. officials also said they are not pulling punches with the Chinese. They have, however, indicated that they want to try something new on Tibet, figuring that the old policy -- of meeting with the Dalai Lama regularly and calling for substantive talks between China and his representatives -- had achieved little. American officials told Tibetan representatives that "this president is not interested in symbolism or photo ops but in deliverables," the Asian diplomat said. "He wants something to come out of his efforts over Tibet, rather than just checking a box."

Talks between China and representatives of the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an anti-Chinese uprising, collapsed in 2008. There are signs that they might resume soon. Read it all at WaPo

Obama Attends North American Leaders Summit in Mexico in August

Obama in Canada

Via Politico, via Robert Gibbs:

"The President will travel to Guadalajara, Mexico, August 9-10 to attend the North American Leaders Summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The summit meeting will provide an opportunity for the United States, Mexico, and Canada to engage on a broad range of issues, including economic recovery and competitiveness in North America, our shared interest in energy and the environment, and cooperation among our governments to promote the safety and welfare of our citizens, including continued close cooperation to counter the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic."

Obama to Meet the Pope

Outdoor White House meeting

Following the G8 Summit (read about that here), Obama will meet with the Pope:

Vatican officials said the U.S. leader will have an afternoon audience with the Pope in the Vatican after the conclusion of a July 8-10 summit of Group of Eight industrial nations, due to take place in the Italian city of L'Aquila.

"The Pope is ready to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in the afternoon of July 10," deputy Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini told Reuters. Read more

Obama's upcoming travel schedule:

July 6-8: Obama will be in Russia meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
July 8-10: Obama will attend the G8 in Italy (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States).
July 10-11: Obama will visit Ghana