curt campbell says why not china on this trip. >> the president goes to china. he has been to china before. there are times you go and talk with allies and partners and friends and times that you don't. i think that what you see among our allies and friends is a real concern about the substance of the pivot. is it being adequately resourced? is it just rhetoric? and the president has said it now for several years. and obviously there's still concerns. >> ifill: let's talk about that, curt campbell. what is significant about-- you have written that he is reformulating priorities. what is the evidence of that? >> look, this is not something that you can measure immediately, right. it's going to take a significant period of time. the stepping up of our game involves diplomatic engagement. i think michael rightly points out why we are visiting these countries, to give you a sense. this is a first visit of a president of the united states to malaysia since 1967 the streets of kuala lumpur were dirt an there were water buffaloes roaming around. malaysia is like our 10

here for a look at what the president hopes to accomplish is curt campbell, former undersecretary ofrs and founder of the asia group a washington-based consultancy. i am pleased to have him back on this program. tell me what you think the president can accomplish on this trip. >> i have to be honest, charlie, there are a lot of hard places in the world, so the president's going to four nations, independent meetings in four countries, each of which is currently being tested. the president's got to walk a very careful line here, to sort of reassert american leadership, strong support for each of these countries, all the while understanding that sort of the shadow in the background is this looming set of very important, very challenging relationships with beijing. so he's got to be reassuring, firm, and strong, but at the same time, underscore that the united states is still committed to a good relationship with the china. >> rose: someone said to me today or i read this somewhere today that the asians appreciate not only the quality of the time but the quantity of the time. >> i-- i ha

that's been underlined by the former secretary curt campbell who wrote: >> campbell has now set up hiswn advisory and investment firm. around 740 million people in asia live on less that $1.05 a day. they are probably not going to notice obama's visit much. the government has been watching closely. it's seen as a most critical test of u.s. strategy. >> let's bring in carlo live from canberra in australia. good to have you on the programme. a lot of u.s. attention is on europe and the middle east. what is your assessment of how important this trip will be to reassure asian allies that u.s. focus is on that region? >> it's vitally important because obama administration could not make it last october. he's out to reassure the region that despite the congress cutting the budget for defense, possible sequestration, that the economy is on the rise, and pushing a trans-pacific partnership. >> the second is to say the crisis in syria and crimea is not comparable to east asia, and the u.s., because it isn't robustly engaged does not mean it will not be engaged in the asia pacific. the third is