‘Pivot to Asia’: US evolves from policeman to diplomat

 

“We welcome China’s peaceful rise,” Mr. Obama says, declares US neutrality in regional maritime disputes

 

By Arthur Bariuad

VISITING United States President Barack Obama descended in Tokyo a week ago to a red carpet welcome for a knight in shining armor against a domineering China but flew out Tuesday out of Manila to the beating drums of activists more like a dove bearing an olive branch.

Stalked by China’s shadows and belligerent tones throughout his week-long Asia tour, Mr. Obama took a cautious stand against fears of China’s expansionist ambitions in the region, declaring Washington’s neutrality in the ongoing maritime disputes between Beijing and its neighbors.

At a news conference  in Manila on Monday, Mr. Obama  said “we welcome China’s peaceful rise”, apparently to avoid antagonizing the rising regional power. Such a soft-hand approach effectively tamped down Manila’s expectations that Washington would forcefully come to its rescue and bolster its territorial defense against Beijing’s increasingly assertive behavior in the oil- and gas-rich South China Sea.

Outlining his foreign policy initiative, Mr. Obama said: “My job  as Commander-in-Chief  is to deploy military force as a  last  resort, and to deploy it wisely.”

Still, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the renewed defense alliance between Manila and Washington “takes our security cooperation to a higher level” and “promotes regional peace and stability.”

Chinese ships took control of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground off Zambales province, in 2012. Last year, Chinese coast guard ships surrounded the Second Thomas Shoal, another contested offshore South China Sea territory.

“We don’t even take a specific position on the disputes between nations,” Mr. Obama stressed, repeating similar declarations he made in Tokyo last Wednesday involving Japan’s territorial dispute with China over the a group of islands in the East China Sea.

“We don’t go around sending ships and threatening folks,” he added.

By its sheer size, Mr. Obama said, “it’s inevitable that China is going to be a dominant power in this region.”

Mr. Obama  said  Washington’s  strategic “pivot to Asia” was not  about  thwarting China’s rise. “Our goal is not to counter China. Our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure international rules and norms are respected and that includes in the area of maritime disputes,” he said.

China is the second largest economic partner of the United States with annual trade exceeding $500 billion.

As an Asia-Pacific nation, Mr. Obama said America’s “primary interest is the peaceful resolution of conflict, the freedom of navigation that allows for continued progress and prosperity.”

Already, Mr. Obama supported Manila’s move to seek international arbitration over its maritime and territorial conflict with China in the South China Sea. Beijing has ignored Manila’s case before an international tribunal, saying it could only pursue bilateral negotiations to settle long-standing territorial disputes.

Asian allies have rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Obama eager to see his ambitious “pivot to Asia” strategy fend off China’s increasing assertiveness in the region. Mr. Obama’s overnight visit to Manila was the last stop of a weeklong Asian tour that also included Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

The Aquino  administration  had taken  steps to sign  a 10-year defense agreement with the US in time for Mr. Obama’s visit in hopes that it would serve as a security blanket against China’s bullying.

The agreement allows the US military to have extensive access to Philippine military bases. It would be the most substantial US military presence since the Philippine Senate rejected a basing agreement in September 1991 that forced the US to vacate  Subic Bay Naval Base a year later.

Philippine officials  trace  the  beginnings  of China’s “creeping invasion” into the South China Sea just as the Pentagon commenced the withdrawal of US forces from Subic more than two decades ago.

In February 1992, China passed an expansionist law declaring the entire South China Sea as its territory, In 1994, China secretly built structures on stilts on Mischief Reef, about 130 miles west of Palawan, triggering a protest from the Philippines. Beijing rejected the protest and claimed the structures were shelter for fishermen.

Over the years, China built more structures on the reef, including communications satellite, which Manila claimed resembled military installations than shelters for fishermen.

 

 

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