President Obama’s arrival in the Philippines on Tuesday morning will kick off five days of presidential diplomacy aimed at bolstering America’s allies in the region against China’s economic and military might.
White House officials said on Monday that Mr. Obama would continue consultations with world leaders about the terror attacks in and around Paris last week, which had already overshadowed the planned economic discussions at the Group of 20 meeting here.
But Mr. Obama is eager to press the case for what his administration calls a “rebalance” in Asia that aims to empower countries in the region to compete with China by developing closer diplomatic ties and pushing for more open trade.