US Secretary of State addresses APEC summit

(Vatican Radio) United States Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum currently underway on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The Secretary of State assured those gathered for the summit that the US remains committed to Asia despite president Barack Obama’s absence. President Obama was scheduled to attend the summit but cancelled after a partial US government shutdown. All non-essential operations of the US government have been closed since Tuesday due to Congress failing to agree on a new budget.
Speaking at the Apec summig, Kerry addressed the international community, telling them to not “mistake this momentary episode in American politics than anything less than a moment of politics, or anything more than a moment of politics.”
Kerry also describe the crisis in America as an example of the “robustness of our democracy.”
US-EU trade negotiations have also been postponed because of the US government shutdown.
Listen to Ann Schneible’s report: