United States presidential visits to East Asia
Appearance
Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to East Asia. The first presidential trip to a country in East Asia was made by Dwight D. Eisenhower (as president-elect) in 1952. Since then, all presidents, except John F. Kennedy, have travelled to one or more nations in the region while in office. To date, twenty visits have been made to Japan, eighteen to South Korea, eleven to China, and one to both Mongolia and Taiwan. No incumbent president has yet visited North Korea (which does not have diplomatic relations with the U.S.[1]).
Table of visits
President | Dates | Country | Locations | Highlights |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dwight D. Eisenhower[2] | December 2–5, 1952 | South Korea | Seoul | Visit to Korean combat zone. (Visit made as President-elect.) |
June 18–19, 1960 | Taiwan | Taipei | State visit. Met with President Chiang Kai-shek | |
June 19–20, 1960 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with Prime Minister Heo Jeong. Addressed the National Assembly. | |
Lyndon B. Johnson[3] | October 31 – November 2, 1966 |
Seoul, Suwon |
State visit. Met with President Park Chung-hee and Prime Minister Chung Il-kwon. Addressed National Assembly. | |
Richard Nixon[4] | February 21–28, 1972 | China | Shanghai, Peking, Hangchow |
State Visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. |
Gerald Ford | November 19–22, 1974 | Japan | Tokyo, Kyoto |
State visit. Met with Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. |
November 22–23, 1974 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Chung-hee. | |
December 1–5, 1975 | China | Peking | Official visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping | |
Jimmy Carter[5] | June 25–29, 1979 | Japan | Tokyo, Shimoda |
State visit; met with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira. Attended the 5th G7 summit. |
June 29 – July 1, 1979 | South Korea | Seoul | State visit. Met with President Park Chung-hee and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah. | |
July 9–10, 1980 | Japan | Tokyo | Official visit; attended memorial services for former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira; met with Emperor Hirohito, President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Malcom Fraser of Australia, Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of Thailand, and Premier Hua Guofeng of China. | |
Ronald Reagan[6] | November 9–12, 1983 | State visit; met with Emperor Hirhito and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and addressed the National Diet. | ||
November 12–14, 1983 | South Korea | Seoul, Demilitarized Zone |
State visit. Met with President Chun Doo-hwan. Addressed the National Assembly and visited U.S. troops. | |
April 26 – May 1, 1984 | China | Beijing, Xian, Shanghai |
State visit. Met with President Li Xiannian and Premier Zhao Ziyang. | |
May 2-7, 1986 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the 12th G7 summit. | |
George H. W. Bush[7] | February 23–25, 1989 | Attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito. Met with Emperor Akihito, the kings of Belgium, Jordan and Spain, the presidents of Brazil, Egypt, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal and Zaire, and the prime ministers of Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey. | ||
February 25–27, 1989 | China | Beijing | Met with President Yang Shangkun and Premier Li Peng. Also met with Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. | |
February 27, 1989 | South Korea | Seoul | Official visit. Addressed the National Assembly. | |
January 5–7, 1992 | Met with President Roh Tae-woo and senior Korean officials. Also signed a science and technology agreement, addressed the Korean National Assembly, and visited U.S. military personnel. | |||
January 7–10, 1992 | Japan | Kyoto, Kashihara, Tokyo |
Met with Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and senior Japanese officials. | |
Bill Clinton[8] | July 6–10, 1993 | Tokyo | Attended the 19th G7 summit. Met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. | |
July 10–11, 1993 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Addressed the South Korean National Assembly. Visited U.S. military personnel. | |
April 15–16, 1996 | Cheju Island | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Proposed four-nation peace talks. | ||
April 16–18, 1996 | Japan | Tokyo | State visit. Issued joint statement on U.S.-Japanese security relations. Addressed the Diet and U.S. Navy personnel. | |
November 19–20, 1998 | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. Addressed American Chamber of Commerce. | |||
November 20–22, 1998 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan |
Met with President Kim Dae-jung. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
June 24 – July 3, 1998 | China | Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Hong Kong |
State visit. Met with President Jiang Zemin. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. Delivered a speech at Peking University. | |
June 8, 2000 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the funeral of former Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. | |
July 21–23, 2000 | Nago | Attended the 26th G8 summit. | ||
George W. Bush[9] | October 18–21, 2001 | China | Shanghai | Attended APEC Summit Meeting. |
February 16–19, 2002 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Emperor Akihito. Addressed the Diet. | |
February 19–21, 2002 | South Korea | Seoul, Dorasan, Osan |
Met with President Kim Dae-jung. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
February 21–22, 2002 | China | Beijing | Met with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. | |
October 17–18, 2003 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. | |
November 15–16, 2005 | Kyoto | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi | ||
November 16–20, 2005 | South Korea | Pusan, Gyeongju, Osan |
Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
November 20–21, 2005 | China | Beijing | Met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. | |
November 21, 2005 | Mongolia | Ulan Bator | Met with President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. | |
July 6–9, 2008 | Japan | Tōyako | Attended the 34th G8 summit. Met with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. | |
August 5–6, 2008 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
August 7–11, 2008 | China | Beijing | Attended the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. Met with President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. | |
Barack Obama[10] | November 13–14, 2009 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. |
November 15–18, 2009 | China | Shanghai, Beijing |
Met with Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng and Mayor Han Zheng; also took part in a town hall meeting with Shanghai students. Met with President Hu Jintao, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. | |
November 18–19, 2009 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited with U.S. troops at Osan Air Base. | |
November 10–12, 2010 | Seoul | Attended the G-20 summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. | ||
November 12–14, 2010 | Japan | Yokohama, Kamakura | Attended the 18th APEC Leaders' Meeting; also held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Naoto Kan. | |
March 25–27, 2012 | South Korea | Seoul | Attended the Nuclear Security Summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. | |
April 23–25, 2014 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.[11] | |
April 25–26, 2014 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Geun-hye. Visited with U.S. troops at Yongsan Garrison. | |
November 10–12, 2014 | China | Beijing | Attended the APEC summit. Met with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang.[12] | |
May 25–27, 2016 | Japan | Shima, Hiroshima |
Attended the 42nd G7 summit. Visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. | |
September 3–6, 2016 | China | Hangzhou | Attended the G-20 summit. |
Visits by former presidents
- Ulysses S. Grant visited Hong Kong, Canton (now Guangzhou), Shanghai, and Peking where he spoke with the head of government, Prince Gong, and Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili, in 1878, during a world tour after leaving the presidency. He subsequently visited Japan, before returning to the U.S.[13]
- Richard Nixon visited China at the personal invitation of Mao Zedong in February 1976.[14] He visited again in mid–1979, and had a private meeting with Deng Xiaoping in Beijing.[15]
- Jimmy Carter travelled to China, along with Carter Center personnel, for meetings with government and other officials on several occasions: July 1997,[16] September 2003,[17] December 2007,[18] and January 2009.[19]
- Bill Clinton (who had considered visiting North Korea in 2000 near the end of his presidency) travelled to Pyongyang, North Korea in August 2009 to secure the release of two American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling who were imprisoned after crossing into North Korea through China without a Visa. Lee and Ling were released while he was there.[20]
See also
- Foreign policy of the United States
- United States–South Korea free trade agreement
- Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan
- One-China policy
References
- ^ "U.S. Relations With North Korea". Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (U.S Department of State).
- ^ Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-04 at WebCite
- ^ Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian WebCitation archive
- ^ "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ Beech, Hannah (April 24, 2014). "Obama to Japan: Yes, the U.S. Will Defend You". Time. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
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(help) - ^ "The President's Trip to China, Burma and Australia". White House Office. November 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-11-08.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Brands, H. W. (2012). The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace. Doubleday. pp. 591–592. ISBN 978-0385532419.
- ^ Black, Conrad (2007). Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full. New York: Public Affairs Books. p. 1005. ISBN 978-1-58648-519-1.
- ^ Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 524–525. ISBN 978-0-671-69188-2.
- ^ "Visit to China". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- ^ "President Carter's Japan and China Trip Report". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- ^ "Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to China, Dec. 2-8, 2007". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- ^ "China Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: Jan. 10-16, 2009". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/04/nkorea.clinton/index.html
Categories:
- Lists relating to the United States presidency
- United States presidential visits
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- China–United States relations
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- North Korea–United States relations