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UPDATED: April 22, 2014 NO. 17 APRIL 24, 2014
Examining Obama's Asia Tour
The U.S. president cannot exclude China while attempting to shape Asia's future
By An Gang
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The wishful thinking behind the Obama administration's adjustment to its global strategy is to pull out some of its resources in the Middle East and redirect them to the Asia-Pacific, so as to shift its global strategic focus eastward. But the reality is too harsh for Washington to achieve this goal. The White House now has to deal the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific and Europe at the same time while facing obvious problems like strategic resource shortages and decreasing domestic support.

The explosion of the Ukrainian crisis tossed the U.S.-Russian relationship into its worst period after the Cold War. It never occurred to Washington that Russian President Vladimir Putin would absorb Crimea in revenge for NATO's strategic pressure. It had to adjust its diplomatic agenda to focus on imposing sanctions against Russia in collaboration with the European Union. The U.S.-Russian relationship now is on the brink of a new Cold War. As Washington refuses to see such a prospect, it will devote much energy to renegotiating U.S. and Russian spheres of influence in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus.

Facilitating a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine is at the top of Obama's diplomatic agenda in his second term. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has paid 11 trips to the Middle East, maintaining mediation even in the tensest period of the Ukrainian crisis. But Washington's new policy in the Middle East didn't go as smoothly as expected. Turmoil caused by political transitions in different nations and heated conflicts on the Israel-Palestine border might break Obama's dream of becoming a president of peace.

In a world full of turbulence and instability, Obama may have realized that what the United States wants most in Asia is not competition or war preparation, but stability and prosperity. But emerging problems are calling Washington's ability into question and challenging U.S. interests, leaving the United States in a muddle. Actually, it might be only China that can really help Washington out of the swamp.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula will be high on Obama's Asia tour agenda. North Korea recently fired artillery into the Sea of Japan, and vowed to conduct a new nuclear test, protesting against U.S.-South Korea joint military rehearsals. It is very difficult to see Pyongyang's real intentions. The White House refuses to reopen talks with North Korea before the latter adopts practical denuclearization measures. Washington needs Beijing's help to urge Pyongyang to discard its plan of developing nuclear weapons.

As Obama's Asia tour bypasses China, some have misread the situation as the United States attempting to unite its Asian allies against China. But the truth is that the White House spent three months communicating with Chinese counterparts on arranging high-level exchanges in 2014, including the first meeting of the two countries' presidents in The Hague in March, a new round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue in mid-2014 in China, and Obama's attendance of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the fall in Beijing, during which the U.S. president will make his second visit to China.

This year is extremely crucial to both sides' domestic events. China must see to it that its all-round reform plan is carried out successfully, while the United States is going to hold midterm elections and promote economic rebalancing. Therefore, the leaderships of the two sides are in need of bilateral cooperation and stable relations as never before. According to U.S. media, the U.S. Government persuaded China to postpone the date of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting from previously planned dates in October to sometime after the U.S. midterm elections.

The United States has conducted a series of diplomatic acts to diminish suspicions that Obama's Asia tour intentionally bypasses China and eliminate the negative influence on China-U.S. relations caused by Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama in February in the White House. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Asia-Pacific Affairs Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel visited China together in January. Secretary of State Kerry visited China and South Korea in February. In March, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters made a special trip to China for a week. On March 24, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart met in The Hague as scheduled, discussing bilateral and global issues and reaffirming their commitment to jointly establishing a new-type relationship between major powers. Obama reiterated that the U.S. side has no intention of damaging China's stability, or of deterring China. He promised to support China's reform and deal with differences and frictions in a constructive way.

The White House has increasingly realized that without China's coordination, the United States not only will accomplish little in Asia, but also might become mired in conflicts and suspicions of a new Cold War. Washington needs to face its own weakness and rethink its Asia strategy. To Obama, an Asia tour that bypasses China actually has confirmed that no one can detour around China in arranging Asia's future.

Email us at: yanwei@bjreview.com

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