Asian leaders voice hopes over Obama

Asian leaders spoke of their desire for closer ties with the United States and voiced hope that America will play a positive international role after Barack Obama's historic election triumph Wednesday.

China's President Hu Jintao said he hoped bilateral ties could reach new highs while Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso pledged to work with to strengthen relations.

In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised the president-elect for turning Martin Luther King's dream into a reality, and said for leadership.

"Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream of an America where men and women would be judged not on the colour of their skin but on the content of their character," Rudd told reporters.

"Today what America has done is turn that dream into a reality."

China's Hu said a closer relationship between Beijing and Washington would be "for the benefit of Chinese and American people, and people around the world."

"In a new historical era, I look forward to... taking our bilateral relationship of constructive cooperation to a new level," he said in a written message, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.

leader Aso, who heads the world's second-biggest economy, stressed his hope that the United States will play a key role on the global stage.

"As the world confronts a multitude of serious challenges, I believe that the US will continue to make significant advancements under the able leadership of president-elect Obama, in cooperation with the international community," Aso said.

"I will strive to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance and to resolve various challenges the international community faces when addressing issues such as the international economy, terrorism and the environment."

Aso is reportedly arranging a meeting with Obama next week when he visits Washington to attend a summit on the financial crisis. Obama is supportive of the US-Japan alliance but also favours boosting ties with Beijing.

In war-torn Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of US troops are fighting Taliban militants, President Hamid Karzai said Obama's win took the world into a "new era -- an era where race, colour and ethnicity, I hope, will also disappear... in politics in the rest of the world."

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said he hoped US foreign policy would change tack under Obama.

"Malaysia... hopes Obama's government will be more sensitive to the sovereignty of smaller nations and will not use force in resolving global conflicts," Rais said in a statement.

"Obama's victory is seen as a bringing change and hope to the world," he added.

India's ruling Congress party said Obama's "youthful energy" was in tune with the dynamism of the emerging country, adding it was confident that rapidly warming ties would grow stronger under Obama's leadership.

A statement from South Korea's presidential palace expressed the hope for further development of relations with the United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in the country.

Elsewhere in Asia, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said Manila looked forward to greater cooperation with Washington, which has close military ties with the country.

And Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he hoped the leadership change would boost the fight against the global economic crisis.