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Obama will meet with China’s Xi U.S. NEWS A3
Wednesday 30 March 2016
as South China Sea tensions rise
Pentagon and State Department order military
M. PENNINGTON and diplomatic families out of southern Turkey
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will be Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington. The State
meeting with Asian leaders in Washington this week Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday
as fears grow that long-smoldering tensions on the Ko- to leave posts in southern Turkey due to “increased threats from terrorist groups” in the country.
rean Peninsula and in the South China Sea risk flaring
into conflict. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
World leaders, including those from China, Japan and
South Korea, will be in town for a summit hosted by MATTHEW LEE dependents in Incirlik, Ismir refueling planes.
Obama on nuclear security — the final round in the and Mugla as well as fam- Turkey’s decision last year
U.S. president’s drive for international action to stop LOLITA C. BALDOR ily of U.S. government ci- to allow the coalition to
materials that could be used for an atomic weapon or vilians at Ismir and Mugla. conduct airstrikes with
dirty bomb from getting into terrorist hands. Associated Press The State Department also aircraft based at Incirlik
But other pressing security issues will be up for discus- restricted official travel to shortened the time and
sion on the sidelines of the two-day gathering that WASHINGTON (AP) — The that which it considers “mis- distance required to con-
starts Thursday. sion critical.” Cook said that duct airstrikes in Syria and
Obama will on Thursday meet separately with China’s State Department and the order does not affect Iraq, compared with strikes
President Xi Jinping at a time when frictions between about 100 family members flown from bases in the Per-
the two world powers over China’s island-building in Pentagon ordered the who are based in Istanbul sian Gulf area. And it in-
strategic waters are growing and look set to intensify and Ankara. creased the number of U.S.
with an upcoming ruling from an international tribunal families of U.S. diplomats The move comes amid personnel at the base.
on Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims. heightened security con- NATO’s Allied Land Com-
The U.S. president is also meeting with Japanese Prime and military personnel cerns throughout Turkey mand is based at Ismir and
Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park due to the ongoing fight there is a Turkish base at
Geun-hye. Washington is looking for an elusive unity Tuesday to leave posts in against Islamic State mili- Mugla where some U.S. mil-
between its core allies in Asia as threats from North Ko- tants in neighboring Syria itary personnel go for train-
rea reach fever-pitch after Pyongyang was stung with southern Turkey due to “in- and Iraq and was accom- ing and other missions.
tough sanctions in response to its recent nuclear test panied by an updated It was not immediately
and rocket launch. creased threats from terror- travel warning advising U.S. clear how many family
Obama will be urging China to implement the U.N. citizens of an increased members would be affect-
sanctions it signed up to for use against North Korea, its ist groups” in the country. threat of attacks. It also ed in total.
traditional ally. For his part, Xi will want the U.S. to restart comes as Turkey’s presi- The Pentagon said the or-
negotiations with the authoritarian government of Kim The two agencies said dent is set to arrive in Wash- der would affect about
Jong Un, which has been touting progress in miniaturiz- ington to attend President 680 military family mem-
ing nuclear devices and missile technology that could dependents of American Barack Obama’s nuclear bers and roughly 270 pets.
directly threaten America. security summit. The State Department and
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tues- staffers at the U.S. consul- “We understand this is Pentagon had begun a
day that if North Korea keeps advancing its weapons disruptive to our military voluntary drawdown of
programs, the U.S. will be compelled to take defensive ate in Adana, the Incirlik families, but we must keep staff at the two posts last
measures that China will not like, such as the deploy- them safe and ensure the September after Turkey
ment of a missile defense system being discussed with air base and two other lo- combat effectiveness of announced it would take
South Korea. Beijing is concerned the system’s radar our forces to support our a greater role in the fight
could cover Chinese territory. cations must leave. The strong ally Turkey in the against Islamic State mili-
“The bottom line remains that as long as North Korea fight against terrorism,” tants.
continues in this direction, advancing its nuclear pro- so-called “ordered depar- the European Command At the time, military officials
gram, advancing its missile program, we are going to statement said. said they had recommend-
have to take these steps to defend ourselves and to ture” notice means the re- Incirlik is a critical base in ed the voluntary departure
defend our partners,” Blinken told a Washington think the fight by the U.S.-led co- from Incirlik because of
tank. location costs will be cov- alition against the Islamic specific calls by militants for
With Obama’s presidency in its final year, there’s un- State group, and includes lone wolf attacks against
certainty among Asian nations on what the next ad- ered by the government. strike aircraft, drones and the air base.
ministration will portend. Republican presidential front-
runner Donald Trump is calling for Japan and South Pentagon press secretary
Korea to pay more for U.S. military protection, and is
advocating a tougher trade policy toward China. Peter Cook said no specific
During his seven years in office, Obama has deepened
engagement with Asia, despite the huge distraction threat triggered the order,
of chaos in the Middle East. The U.S. and China have
cooperated on issues like climate change and nuclear but said it was done “out
security, even as their strategic rivalry has grown. The
U.S. is a major player in China’s fast-growing nuclear of an abundance of cau-
industry, and this month, the U.S. and China opened a
center in Beijing to train technicians and scientists from tion” for the safety of the
across the Asia-Pacific on nuclear security.
But when Obama and Xi meet, the hottest topic will be families in that region. He
the most divisive one: China’s bold pursuit of its sweep-
ing territorial claims in the South China Sea. said he was not aware of
China has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres of land
in the past two years near sea lanes crucial for world a deadline for the families
trade.
to leave, but said “this will

move very quickly.”

In a statement, the mili-

tary’s European Command

said the step “allows for the

deliberate, safe return of

family members from these

areas due to continued

security concerns in the re-

gion.”

The orders cover the Ad-

ana consulate, U.S. military