US

US wants leadership role in Asia

By Tan Yingzi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-22 08:11

Analysts say Washington should avoid confrontation with Beijing

WASHINGTON - The United States expects to play a strong leadership role in Asia but will not create any rivalry with China or any other big powers in the region, a top US diplomat said on Monday.

But Chinese analysts said the move, reflecting Washington's wish to enhance its presence in the region, could cause confrontation among big powers.

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, speaking at a forum about the impact of US-China relations in Asia, said the US will not only strengthen alliances with major partners in the region and improve relations with emerging powers such as China and India, but also enhance regional engagement.

Quoting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' saying "the United States is a resident power in Asia-Pacific", Steinberg said the US engagement in the region will be strong and sustainable.

"We expect to play a leadership role," he said. "It will not come at the expenses of any other countries. It is not a zero-sum situation.

"Our engagement will be strong and we welcome others to step up and play as well and it is not rival type of situation.

"We look forward to partnering with all of the countries in the region, big and small, to move forward to that shared agenda."

But Beijing-based analysts said Steinberg's speech was a sign of deeper interference by the US with issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The US should avoid confrontation with China," said Niu Xinchun, an expert on US studies from China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

He added that the two sides should cooperate with each other instead.

"The former (George W.) Bush administration neglected the region. One important reason is that it paid more attention to the Middle East," Niu said.

After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the US largely reduced its presence in the region until the 2004 Asian tsunami.

After President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the US government launched its back-to-Asia foreign policy.

In July, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waded into the South China Sea territorial disputes by telling a regional security forum in Vietnam that a peaceful resolution of the disputes over the Nansha and the Xisha islands was of American national interest. She also suggested a multilateral solution.

Beijing objected strongly, saying Washington was interfering in an Asian regional issue.

China, which has overlapping claims of the South China Sea islands with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, has always tried to resolve the issue through bilateral negotiations.

Steinberg said the regional engagement will bring major benefits to all.

"The more we embed our relationship in this (regional cooperation), the more confidence we give to others that our enhanced relationships with key powers, like China and Russia, will not come at the expense of smaller powers," he said. "Not only the regional relations enhance the interests of smaller countries, in the end it will reduce our competition and rivalry between larger powers."

He said the Obama administration pays "enormous importance" to military-to-military and security dialogues with China and encourages a return to "a more constructive direction" to begin re-engagement on those fronts.

China cut military exchanges with the US after the Americans sold arms to Taiwan in January.

But in early September, Xu Caihou, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave a rare signal that military ties could be improved.

He told John Hamre, who was US deputy defense secretary under former president Bill Clinton, that China is willing to maintain dialogue and contacts with the US to push forward military ties.

Wang Haishan contributed to the story.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/22/2010 page5)