As Barack Obama prepares for his last Asia trip as U.S. president, with stops in China and Laos, The Associated Press asked six ordinary people across the continent, “How has Barack Obama’s presidency changed the way you view the United States?”
———
NGUYEN VAN NAM, 79, a retired mechanic in Hanoi, Vietnam:
“Obama has done a better job in protecting world peace than previous presidents who brought the U.S. to wars, with losses in human life and property, and created hatred among the world population against America. Mr. Obama has done a very good job in lessening the world population’s opposition against America.”
———
MICHIKO KODAMA, 78, of Tokyo, who survived the atomic bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945:
“When Barack Obama first became the president, I thought America was amazing — a truly democratic country. Soon after his inauguration, he went to Prague to urge a world without nuclear weapons. Seven years since, there hasn’t been any progress. I had believed that his visit to Hiroshima (in May) was for him to witness the devastation in order to realize a world without nuclear weapons. Sadly, I don’t think that was his intention.”
———
MADHAV MALHOTRA, 20, a college student pursuing economics in New Delhi:
“We have seen America’s intervention in places like Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and always perceived America as this aggressive nation that is always interfering in the world’s politics, and sometimes having double standards. … Here, I believe that in Obama’s era, there has been a huge change from what (President George W.) Bush followed, that he exercised a lot of restraint in that respect, and you know they haven’t been heavily interventionist in different countries, and have exercised a more stable form of foreign policy.”
———
NIU ZHICUI, 29, an accountant in Beijing:
“When Obama was elected the president of the U.S., we felt that was a milestone in U.S. history in terms of racial equality. And I think Obama has proven himself a strong leader in his presidency. Bin Laden was killed during his presidency and his policies toward China and some other countries remained pretty aggressive.”
———
CHOI DONG-YUN, 20, a student in Seoul, South Korea:
“I saw (the U.S.) putting more efforts into social welfare, unlike our country, and considering that (Obama) is the first African-American president, I think he knows the hardship of poor people and works hard for them.”
———
TOTO YLAGAN, 53, a government employee in Manila, Philippines:
“I would say that his biggest legacy is showing to the world and domestically in the United States that the democratic institutions are working. He was able to exercise prudence in dealing with countries all over the world.”
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
He has shown great respect for the demands of dictators to be free of western busy-bodies trying to impose western Human Rights (that in all fairness, were originally intended only for white Christians). He has encouraged countries such as China to crack down on those social misfits advocating for democratic political structures or freedom of expression. Unlike the neocons, he has given China a green light to assert its claims over large amount of ocean – in effect, seizing the continental shelf of several countries. Whereas previous presidents were distinguished by supporting democracy, Obama is the first president to make a point of not objecting to tyranny. His final “gift” is to abolish American control of the internet, to allow dictators to block websites critical of their governments.