Examining Obama’s Asia tour

By+An+Gang

U.S. President Barack Obama started an Asia tour on April 23， covering Japan， South Korea， Malaysia and the Philippines. While his voyage conspicuously does not include China， it is undeniable that the United States is no longer able to undertake Asian agendas to the exclusion of China.

Reassuring allies

Obamas journey in April connects a handful of Washingtons most important allies in Asia， and runs across the South China Sea and the East China Sea， where disputes have simmered over territory and maritime rights. Japan and South Korea， which have both hosted Obama twice， have proved themselves as important allies in the U.S. Asia-Pacific alliance system. The U.S. president also included two Southeast Asian nations in his tour， showing a clear intention to draw the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the U.S. side. The four countries are important to the U.S.-headed Trans-Pacific Partnership. Malaysia and Japan now are at a key stage of bilateral consultations with the United States over the free trade pact， while South Korea and the Philippines have decided to join in negotiations.

Obama previously paid three trips to Asia as U.S. president， visiting China， Japan， South Korea， India， Indonesia， Thailand， Myanmar and Cambodia.

Considering Chinas rise as one of the top strategic challenges Washington must confront， the Obama administration has worked to sustain the power balance in the Asia-Pacific via its “pivot to Asia” policy in the past three years. Although Washington has reiterated that China is not the target of this policy， China remains suspicious. Many Chinese observers believe Washingtons rebalancing policy has been divided into two parts： The first is to conduct cooperation with China to revive the U.S. economy and manage global affairs by relying on Chinas growing influence； and the second is to set boundaries for Chinas development so as to prevent the rising power from replacing the United States as the worlds No. 1.

Japan and the Philippines are eager to drag Washington to their sides， so as to gain some leverage when confronting China over their territorial disputes respectively in the East and South China Seas. Although the Obama administration has tried to avoid choosing sides in the disputes， it publicly opposed Chinas decision to implement an air defense identification zone and questioned the legitimacy of Chinas U-shape “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea. It claimed that the way China declared sovereignty had damaged regional stability， and provided backstage guidance and coordination when its two allies confronted China in the air and at sea.endprint

During Obamas April tour， the U.S. president will face further pressure from Japan and the Philippines for increased support. The United States is now in a dilemma over how to efficiently sustain its Asia-Pacific alliance system without provoking China while preventing direct conflicts in disputed areas. Japans future direction is also a problem for the United States. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is accelerating the countrys pace of moving politically rightward. He actively pushed to amend Japans peaceful Constitution， and has sworn to rebuild a strong and powerful Japan.

Abes strategy is to continuously rely on the Japan-U.S. alliance， while at the same time gaining an upper hand in handling international affairs. Japan has even started to say “no” to Washington on big issues. The United States has missed its best opportunity to deal with Japans historical wrongdoings after World War II. The White House needs to worry that once Japan uses its alliance with the United States to realize its “normalization，” it will eventually abandon the alliance and become a power that challenges U.S. dominance in the West Pacific region.

Another goal of Obamas April tour is to ameliorate the relationship between Japan and South Korea， which has been tense due to their territorial disputes over the Dokdo Islands（known as the Takeshima Islands in Japan） and Abes visit to the yasukuni Shrine， where 14 Class-A war criminals of World War II are honored along with the Japanese war dead. The two East Asian neighbors previously waged a diplomatic war over being Obamas No. 1 visiting priority. In the end， Obama decided to stay only two nights in Tokyo， making the trip the shortest state visit a U.S. president has made to Japan. Previously， Washington held a trilateral meeting of U.S.， Japanese and South Korean leaders in The Hague during the Third Nuclear Security Summit in March， and tried to break the ice between its two allies.

Rethinking Asia policy

The White House planned to use Obamas Asia tour to display U.S. commitments to strength-ening contacts with Asia-Pacific nations in diplomatic， economic and security fields. However， it now has to rethink the tours value due to the changed international situation.

The wishful thinking behind the Obama administrations 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.endprint

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 NATOs 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 Obamas 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 Washingtons new policy in the Middle East didnt go as smoothly as expected. Turmoil caused by political transitions in different nations and heated conflicts on the IsraelPalestine border might break Obamas 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 Washingtons 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 Obamas 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 Pyongyangs real intentions. The White House refuses to reopen talks with North Korea before the latter adopts practical denuclearization measures. Washington needs Beijings help to urge Pyongyang to discard its plan of developing nuclear weapons.

As Obamas 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 Obamas 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.endprint