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| FILE - This March 23, 2014 file photo shows first lady Michelle Obama walking with her daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, right, as they visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China in Beijing. When President Barack Obama travels abroad, getting just the leader of the free world doesn’t seem to be enough. Countries want the first lady, too. But Michelle Obama won’t join her husband when he heads to Asia next week and her absence is likely to sting, especially in Japan. It’s the first of four countries on Obama’s travel schedule and the only one welcoming him on an official state visit. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- When President Barack Obama travels abroad, sometimes it's not
enough for just the leader of the free world to show up. People in other
countries want the first lady, too.
But
Michelle Obama won't join her husband when he heads to Asia next week,
and her absence is likely to sting, especially in image-conscious Japan.
It's the first of four countries on Obama's travel schedule and one of
two that are welcoming him with official state visits.
"If
Madame Obama could have come, it would have been better. But the most
important thing is that President Obama accepted this is a state visit,"
said Matake Kamiya, a professor of international relations at the
National Defense University in Yokosuka, near Tokyo. "From an expert
point of view, it's sort of worrisome why Madame Obama isn't coming."
The
fact that Mrs. Obama recently spent a week in China with her mother,
Marian Robinson, and daughters Malia and Sasha also is sure to be noted
in Japan, a close U.S. ally and China rival. But the first lady's
communications director, Maria Cristina Gonzalez Noguera, said it was
not expected that Mrs. Obama would join the president on a return trip
to Asia so soon, having returned less than a month ago.
"When
it comes to international travel, the first lady has always chosen her
trips based on what's best for her family," Noguera said in an emailed
statement.
The last U.S. first lady who did
not join her husband on a state visit to Japan was Gerald Ford's wife,
Betty. Ford became the first sitting American president to visit Japan
when he arrived in November 1974, a few months after he took over the
office from Richard M. Nixon.
Anita McBride,
who was chief of staff to Laura Bush, said having the president's wife
on his overseas trips is always welcomed - by both the White House and
the host country - because she can carry out a different type of
diplomacy.
"They can focus on different things
and, between the two of them, really spread a lot of goodwill," said
McBride, who heads a first ladies' project at American University.
When Mrs. Obama does travel with the president, she often gets as much - and occasionally more - local media coverage.
Last
year in Northern Ireland, where Obama and other major world leaders
gathered for an international summit, she was "the Obama" who got top
billing in the local newspaper. The front page of the Belfast Telegraph
featured a head-to-toe photograph of Mrs. Obama with the headline, "How
Michelle (and a bit of trouble with her fringe) stole the show." The
headline referred to the first lady's debut of her longer bangs that
swept in front of her eyes during a speech to students.
Obama and the summit host, British Prime Minister David Cameron, made the front page, too, but in separate and smaller photos.
Mrs.
Obama's China visit last month was partly seen as making up for her not
accompanying the president to California last year for the visit by
President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The meeting fell days
before Sasha's 12th birthday, and Mrs. Obama's office said at the time
that she stayed back in Washington to be with family.
In
public, Beijing muted its hurt feelings over Mrs. Obama's absence in
California. But deep disappointment was registered in some Chinese
mainstream and social media.
Many Chinese had
looked forward to comparing Peng, an unusually visible and fashionable
Chinese first lady, to her glamorous and high-profile American
counterpart. Peng holds the rank of major general in the People's
Liberation Army and was a popular singer on state television.
Mrs.
Obama made up for her absence in California with a well-received,
widely reported visit to three Chinese cities last month. She jumped
rope, dabbled in tai-chi, walked a section of the Great Wall with her
daughters, fed pandas, met with Xi and ate dinner with Peng.
Mrs. Obama's comments about the free flow of information, however, did not make it into official China state news reports.
The
Japanese are putting a good face on Obama's upcoming solo stop, noting
that his stay will be short. One high-level Japanese government official
chalked up the first lady's absence to a new "American style" of
travel. The official was not authorized to discuss by name details of
Obama's trip before the White House announced them and spoke only on
condition of anonymity.
Mrs. Obama's most
recent overseas trip with her husband came last summer, when they
visited three African countries with their daughters, shortly after
their stops in Northern Ireland and Germany. Since then, the president
has traveled without her to Sweden, Russia, Mexico, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
