Obama's visits to Manila and Kuala Lumpur are intended to make up for his no-show when he cancelled a previous Asia tour in October amid domestic political strife¹ in Washington.

 

A subtext to his visit will be rising territorial² tensions between several US allies and China, which deepened over Beijing's recent declaration of an "air defense³ identification zone" in the East China Sea.

 

Beijing was also angered last week when Washington stiffened⁴ its line on territorial disputes in the South China Sea, calling for adjusting or clarifying its claims.

 

Obama's stops in Japan and South Korea will also bolster⁵ close US alliances, at a time of aggravated⁶（加重的） political tensions between its two Northeast Asian friends.

 

It was an open secret that Obama would visit Japan in April, to take up an invitation from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December 2012.

 

But the decision to add South Korea to the trip came after rising pressure from Seoul and from the Asia policy community in Washington.

 

The move also reflects a desire to signal to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un that there are no gaps in US and South Korean resolve to counter Pyongyang's nuclear program and provocations（挑衅，激怒）.

 

It indicates that Obama is keen to avoid dealing⁷ a political slight to South Korean President Park Geun-Hye that could have occurred if he visited Tokyo and not Seoul.

 

Relations between the two nations were rattled⁸ by Abe's December visit to the Yasukuni Shrine⁹, which honors war criminals among Japan's war dead.

 

Obama's Asia itinerary¹⁰ also includes one noticeable exception -- a stop in China. But he is expected to return to the region later in the year for regional summits in Australia, Beijing and Myanmar.

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