US here to stay as Pacific power: Barack Obama assures Asia

In a clear message to China, President Barack Obama today said that US will expand its military presence in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region despite budget cuts, declaring that America was "here to stay" as a Pacific power.

A day after announcing that the US would base its military aircraft and up to 2,500 Marines in Australia, Obama said, "The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay."

Addressing the special joint sitting of the Australian Parliament, the US President said, "Our enduring interests in the region demand our enduring presence in this region."

Obama is visiting the region amid mounting concern in the region over an increasingly militarily assertive China.

"As the United States puts our fiscal house in order, we are reducing our spending," Obama said, warning that cuts in funding for the US military might were inevitable after years of huge spending in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But he quickly added: "Here is what this region must know. As we end today's wars, I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia-Pacific a top priority.

"Reductions in US defence spending will not -- I repeat, will not -- come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific," he said.

While Obama stressed that the US was "here to stay" as a Pacific power, he said the US is focused on the region as the one that will define the future of the world.

"The United States has and always will be a Pacific nation," he said, adding that "Let there be no doubt, in the Asia?"Pacific in the 21st century, the United States of America is all in."

Obama said that given its size, resources and the economic growth that the region had witnessed in recent years, Asia-Pacific countries were playing an increasingly important role globally.

"As the world's fastest-growing region - and home to more than half the global economy - Asia is critical to achieving my highest priority: creating jobs and opportunity for the American people," Obama said.

"With most of the world's nuclear powers and nearly half of humanity, this region will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or co-operation, needless suffering or human progress," he said.

He said that the US was keen to increase its presence in the region and play a bigger role in its development.

"As president, I've therefore made a deliberate and strategic decision - as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future, by upholding core principles and in close partnership with allies and friends."

Obama said US military, along with Australians, had fought and died in the region and its mission now was to promote security, prosperity and human dignity.

"Americans have bled with you for this progress and we will never allow it to be reversed," he said.

"That's what we stand for, that's who we are, that's the future we will pursue in league with our allies and friends with every element of American power."

Obama also addressed the Chinese unease, pledging to seek greater cooperation with Beijing.

"The United States will continue our effort to build a cooperative relationship with China," Obama said.

"We will do this, even as we continue to speak candidly with Beijing about the importance of upholding international norms and respecting the universal human rights of the Chinese people."