Asia-Pacific

US all-out on sustaining dominance in Asia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-30 11:07

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives a foreign policy speech regarding US-Asia Pacific relations before her trip to the Asia Pacific region in Honolulu, Hawaii, Oct 28, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - In anyone's eyes, it would be a series of highlighted diplomatic moves by the United States: its Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on her sixth, 13-day Asia trip, and its President Barack Obama next month will go to Asia, again.

Experts believe such an intensive Asia agenda of the US leaders underscores the 21-month "proactive" diplomacy by the Obama administration to restore America's Asian influence which has diminished under the George W Bush term.

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"This has been our priority since the first day of the Obama Administration, because we know that much of the history of the 21st century will be written in Asia. This region will see the most transformative economic growth on the planet," Clinton said in her speech in Hawaii on Thursday.

No wonder, as Clinton's words just reflect a growing consensus that Asia has become the most dynamic region and a new power center of the world.

"Clinton's speech and her 13-day trip to the region is evidence of the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region to the United States and the Obama administration's determination to play a leading role in shaping its future," Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

In her speech on US Asia strategy, Clinton said the Obama administration is practicing "forward-deployed" diplomacy, sending the full range of diplomatic assets - including highest-ranking officials, development experts, "into every corner and every capital of the Asia-Pacific region."

She outlined three main "tools" of US engagement in Asia: US allies, new partnerships and cooperation with key regional institutions, underlying a multi-facet fashion of US involvement in Asia.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) is greeted by South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak as she arrives for a gala dinner happening on the sides of the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, Oct 29, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

In a quite aggressive move, Clinton vowed the United States will seek a seat at the table of any regional institution in the Asia-Pacific as long as it concerns the security, political and economic interests of her country.

Undoubtedly, as Clinton put it in a explicit way, US goals in Asia are "sustaining and strengthening US leadership role" in the region. However, it remains in doubt how the US effort to dominate would play out in a world that has become more and more multi-polarized.  

"Secretary Clinton's speech reflects that the United States wants to make up for lost time under the Bush administration and wants to reassert American leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," said Christopher McNally, expert with the Hawaii-based think tank the East West Center.

"But since the relative position of the United States in terms of economic, diplomatic and military power is gradually diminishing in Asia, in the long-term, it is difficult to see America keeping its traditional position of dominant power in the region," said McNally.