Obama will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Honolulu on Saturday.
In China, “there is a widespread belief that the U.S. is stirring up trouble,” said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who is visiting Beijing this week. “The TPP is seen as something ‘mysterious’ that is designed in some way to contain China.
. . .
The dominant theme I am hearing here is that the international community is always asking for more from China and not appreciating what China already contributes to the global system.”
Indeed, a growing number of nations, including Australia, count China as their largest trading partner, critical to their economies. The Obama administration is eyeing China's vast consumer base as a huge opportunity for U.S.-produced goods. In Southeast Asia, China has ramped up its aid to emerging economies.
With its economic growth, however, has come increased aggression, bolstered by the rapid modernization of its military. Defense spending has seen double-digit growth in China for much of the past two decades.
This year, China launched its first aircraft carrier — a retrofitted Soviet vessel. It is developing an anti-ship missile that could limit the range and options of U.S. aircraft carriers should a conflict arise over Taiwan. And earlier this year, just hours before a visit by then-defense secretary Robert M. Gates, China debuted its new J-20 stealth fighter in a provocative test flight.
In a tour of Asia last month, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told two of America’s closest Asian allies — Japan and South Korea — that the United States is committed to the region. Even in the face of defense budget cuts, he vowed, “we are not anticipating any cutbacks in this region. If anything, we’re going to strengthen our presence in the Pacific.”
Douglas Paal, head of the Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Obama must reassure allies that the United States will be more focused on Asia than it has been for the past decade.
“The U.S. has no ability to keep China out or to keep China down,” Paal said. But at the same time, he added, the United States has too many interests in the Asia to be absent.
“We haven’t been tending [those interests] properly since 1997,” Paal said. “And now you have to do the hard work to get back in after exempting yourself for 12 years.”
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