Opinion

Close ties with Washington a boon

By Su Hao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-18 15:31

The United States previously performed as a bystander and showed no sign of participation since the establishment of the regional cooperation framework in East Asia.

But after a speech US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made in Hawaii at the beginning of 2010, the US has been trying to get involved in regional affairs of East Asia directly or indirectly, and finally joined the East Asia Summit recently.

The attention the US is paying to East Asia has a direct connection with its strategic adjustment. The US has been focusing on the war against terrorism and has laid its strategic emphasis on the Middle East since the beginning of the 21st century.

Regional cooperation in East Asia wasn't attractive enough to US, so it even skipped the foreign ministers council of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

However, with active coordination among East Asian countries, the process of regional cooperation has gone ahead smoothly and the establishment of an East Asia community was agreed to as a long-term goal to attain.

East Asian countries are still constructing the regional order step by step. Still, the US has deep military security concerns in the region, and its commercial relationship with East Asian countries is close, but its long absence in East Asia has made the US feeling ignored and isolated, although no one wanted this to be so.

China's role as an engine to promote cooperation has raised America's concerns. And the construction of a regional order for East Asia seemed to have a negative influence on the Asia-Pacific order dominated by the US.

After the Cold War, the US defined itself as the leader of the Asia-Pacific, with a traditional strategy to maintain its hegemony. The US cannot stand challenges from other countries, not to mention the existence of the so-called East Asia Order, which it cannot dominate, and is even being repelled.

Thus, the US has to adjust its strategic focus and treat East Asia as a supportive role to its leadership in Asia-Pacific. This was elucidated by Clinton's speech in Hawaii on Oct 28.

"Much of the history of the 21st century will be written in Asia," she said, thus, the US "is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in the Asia-Pacific - because of our history, our capabilities and our credibility".

So, here the US comes, as a participant of the regional cooperation process. What's interesting is that there is no mention of the geopolitical concept "East Asia", which is widely recognized by East Asian countries, in the keynote speech Clinton made in Hawaii before she came to the summit.

Clinton didn't elaborate what kind of role the US is going to play in East Asian regional cooperation, either.

Different from Clinton, Premier Wen Jiabao showed his support in promoting East Asian regional cooperation and during the summit specified a series of practical suggestions.

Wen said China would like to join hands with different parties to continue promoting East Asian cooperation to a higher level.

During the "10+3" summit, Wen put forward specific proposals on how to implement the establishment of an East Asia free trade area, deepen financial cooperation, strengthen agricultural, infrastructure construction, and promote cooperation in education and other areas.

Wen also gave some solid advice, including enhancing trade and economic level, providing credit funds, promoting financial interaction, strengthening cooperation in the agricultural economy, increasing investment in a sustainable way and strengthening cultural cooperation.

China clearly has practical ways to promote regional cooperation in East Asia, and is doing solid work to promote the development and prosperity of East Asian countries.

Obviously, what the US performed at the summit appears to be very special, for there is a considerable gap between the US and East Asian countries on the consensus that has been reached in the East Asian regional cooperation framework and the long-term goal.

The US seems to be unfamiliar with the language, concepts, rules and fields of the East Asia cooperation process.

We hope the US can change its discordant profile and try to understand the existing norms and systems, and seek the possibility of playing a role in promoting regional cooperation process.

As an East Asian country, we welcome the positive and constructive participation of the US. In East Asia, no country tends to challenge the US' leadership in Asia-Pacific region, so the US should avoid negative hostile intervention that would affect regional integration in East Asia.

Integration processes of regional cooperation in East Asia will promote peace, stability, development and prosperity, and bring new development opportunities and cooperation with the US, which is a boon for the entire Asia-Pacific region.

The author is director of the Center for Strategic and Conflict Management at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.