The Tripping President

And he's off.

President Bush leaves this afternoon for a week-long trip to Asia, the highlight of which will be three languorous days watching the Olympics in Beijing with the whole Bush clan.

But, try as he may, he can't escape controversy.

Paul Alexander writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush's visit to Beijing almost looks like a vacation -- right down to a family reunion. But his three-nation Asian trip also takes him to the doorsteps of two troublesome regimes while forcing him to balance the Olympic spirit with the delicacies of diplomacy."

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post that Bush's trip "has the potential for fireworks at every stop.

"The prospect for controversy at the Olympics in Beijing, where Bush is to arrive Thursday, has already been well documented. But stops in Seoul and Bangkok -- aimed at celebrating ties with two of the United States' closest allies in Asia -- could also make Bush's ninth, and probably final, trip to the region something less than the triumphal tour the White House has been hoping for.

"Korean protesters angry about the resumption of U.S. beef imports are girding to hit the streets when Bush arrives in Seoul on Tuesday night. . . .

"Political repression in neighboring Burma will be high on Bush's agenda in Bangkok. He will meet with dissidents at the U.S. Embassy while Laura Bush tours refugee facilities on the Thailand-Burma border. Yet the Thai government is seen by many in the region as a major enabler of Burmese military strongman Than Shwe.

"Burma will be 'a tricky one' for Bush in Thailand, said Mike Green, a former Asia adviser to Bush who briefed reporters last week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies."

The Associated Press has the itinerary. Reuters summarizes the key issues on the first stop, in Seoul.

China Watch

Howard LaFranchi writes in the Christian Science Monitor: "After coming into office with a confrontational stance toward a rising China and open belligerence toward North Korea, the Bush administration has developed an Asia policy that has lowered the temperature of some of the world's toughest security threats, experts in the region say. . . .

"But they also say that prickly issues remain -- some of which Bush will confront on his trip. Some experts contend that a looming issue of America's gradual eclipse by a roaring Asia has been exacerbated by America's poor domestic performance over the Bush years.