US-Asean friendship worth cultivating
China's shadow looms, but ties with Asean promise gains beyond the strategic.
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Washington
BARACK Obama is in Laos with leaders of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) and its offshoot, the East Asia Summit, for his last meeting as US president.
Given China's success in preventing Asean members from raising contentious territorial issues, the summit promises to lack drama. Yet Mr Obama's steady improvement in US relations with the group will leave long-lasting effects.
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