United States President Barack Obama will visit Asia in April to push for closer ties, an aide said on Wednesday, after his earlier cancellation of a trip raised questions about US staying power.
Ms Susan Rice, Mr Obama's national-security adviser, acknowledged the disappointment after the President called off a trip in October, to negotiate with Republican lawmakers who had shut down the US government in a failed bid to stop his health-care reforms.
Ms Rice said Mr Obama would make up for the cancellation with his trip next year, saying: "Our friends in Asia deserve and will continue to get our highest-level attention."
She said in an address at Georgetown University: "No matter how many hotspots emerge elsewhere, we will continue to deepen our enduring commitment to this critical region."
She said US assistance to the typhoon-hit Philippines, which includes the deployment of more than 1,000 Marines, represented a broader pledge to all of Asia.
"America's commitment won't expire a few months or a few years from now," she said.