Invariably -- inevitably, the leaders will want to discuss the salient strategic and security issue facing the region, which is the issue stemming from the competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Mr Obama intends to raise the matter of territorial disputes in the South China Sea at the East Asia Summit in Bali at the weekend.
The Philippines and China have territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and engaged in a lengthy stand-off over the Scarborough shoal last year.
The competing stakes in the South China Sea are nothing new: territorial claims to the islands stretch back decades, even centuries, according to some of the nations vying in the sea grab.
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Media in China have welcomed Washington's low-key public stance on the East China Sea territorial dispute during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's US visit.
The top US East Asia diplomat, Kurt Campbell, on Thursday said that the US will urge "caution and care" in the East China Sea territorial dispute.
Other countries in the region believe China also wants to assert territorial claims in the South China Sea more vigorously.
On September 21, for instance, Beijing clearly violated its World Trade Organization obligations by banning the sale of rare-earth minerals to Japan to intimidate Tokyo in their territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
Joint naval exercises in recent weeks both with the Philippines and Vietnam have irked China at a time of growing tension over its territorial disputes in the South China Sea with those two countries.
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That conveniently ignored the fact that the Law of the Sea is not a mechanism for resolving territorial disputes.
Her high-profile challenging of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, beginning in 2010, infuriated Beijing's leadership.
In addition, that country and its southern neighbors have sparred over territorial rights in the South China Sea.
And the two sides have found resource potential in part of the sea that should be sheltered from the territorial dispute.
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Another irritant to regional ties arose Tuesday morning when eight Chinese patrol ships sailed within the territorial waters around the East China Sea islands, said a Japanese Coast Guard official.
The alleged Russian intrusion comes fewer than two months after Japan publicly accused China of illegally entering its airspace, in mid-December, amid an escalating territorial row in the East China Sea.
The move comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-China relations, with clashes over Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea and wrangling over a number of trade issues, from glossy paper to tires to chicken.
The results were the first production gains for the three biggest Japanese auto makers since a territorial row over a group of islands in the East China Sea led to boycotts of Japanese goods in September.
WSJ: Japanese Car Makers Report Production Increases in China
The dispute over the sea border arose after Israel discovered massive quantities of natural gas in its territorial waters in 2009.
Japan is currently embroiled in a separate territorial dispute with Beijing over islands in the East China Sea.
Chinese consumers like Japanese technology, but feel strongly about the territorial dispute that is playing out in the East China Sea.
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Mr Minami said an ongoing territorial dispute with China over islands is the East China Sea was also a cause for concern going forward.
BBC: Japan's industrial output slips as demand remains subdued
Turning to regional news, China voices opposition to the Philippines seeking international arbitration on a South China Sea territorial dispute, China Central Television reports.
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