President Obama is back at the White House after a week in the Middle East and Europe. During his trip, "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose spoke with the president in Germany for a wide-ranging interview. Mr. Obama had just announced 250 additional American troops will go to Syria to help in the fight against ISIS.
But the president also faces other big challenges in
Asia, including North Korea'sclaims of successful ballistic missile
tests and China's military installations on man-made islands
in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
"How aggressive do you see the action in the South
China Sea? And do you worry that they will cross some line, in which you'll
have to respond more aggressively?" Rose asked the president.
"I've been consistent, since I've been president, in
believing that a productive, candid relationship between the United States and
China is vital, not just to our two countries, but to world peace and
security," Mr. Obama said.
It's not a zero-sum game, Mr. Obama added.
"What is true, though, is that they have a tendency
to view some of the immediate regional issues or disputes as a zero-sum
game," he said. "So with respect to the South China Sea, rather than
operate under international norms and rules, their attitude is, 'We're the
biggest kids around here. And we're gonna push aside the Philippines or the
Vietnamese.' ... But it doesn't mean that we're trying to act against China. We
just want them to be partners with us. And where they break out of
international rules and norms, we're going to hold them to account."
In regards to North Korea, Mr. Obama described the
regime as "a massive challenge."
"Our first priority is to protect the American
people and our allies, the Republic of Korea, Japan, that are vulnerable to the
provocative actions that North Korea is engaging in," Mr. Obama said.
He said North Korea is "erratic enough" and the
country's leader, Kim Jong Un, is "irresponsible enough that we don't want
them getting close."
"But it's not something that lends itself to an easy
solution," Mr. Obama said. "We could, obviously, destroy North Korea
with our arsenals. But aside from the humanitarian costs of that, they are
right next door to our vital ally, Republic of Korea."
Mr. Obama explained how the U.S. has been preparing to
fend off threats from North Korea.
"One of the things that we have been doing is
spending a lot more time positioning our missile defense systems, so that even
as we try to resolve the underlying problem of nuclear development inside of
North Korea, we're also setting up a shield that can at least block the
relatively low-level threats that they're posing right now," Mr. Obama
said.
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