Follow US Immigration and US Political News: The White House announced on the evening of the 3rd (local time) that due to the shutdown of non-essential federal government departments, US President Barack Obama will completely cancel his four-nation Asian tour originally scheduled to begin on the 5th of this month.
The White House issued a statement on the evening of the 3rd saying that Obama has canceled his planned visits to Indonesia and Brunei. This means he will miss the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting to be held in Bali, Indonesia, as well as the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit to be held in Brunei. US Secretary of State John Kerry will lead the delegation to visit these countries in place of Obama.
Previously, the White House announced on the 2nd that due to the federal government shutdown, Obama would cancel the visits to Malaysia and the Philippines, which were part of his four-nation Asian tour.
The White House stated on the 3rd that Obama made this decision firstly because the government shutdown has created difficulties for the trip, and secondly because he is determined to remain in the country to urge Republicans to hold a vote immediately so that the government can reopen.
Because the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States failed to reach an agreement on the new fiscal year's government budget and the implementation of the healthcare reform bill, non-essential departments of the US federal government were forced to shut down starting from the 1st of this month. This is the first time since 1996 that the United States has experienced a government shutdown.