US President tries to win and influence friends
US President Barack Obama's recently concluded week-long, four-nation tour of Asia had four major goals — first, reassure American allies in the region that the US still has their back; second, broadcast this reiteration of support as a warning signal to China; third, combine the first two factors to rebalance American foreign policy in Asia; and fourth, shore up the Asian equation by strengthening trade ties. On some counts, Mr Obama did reasonably well; on others, not so much. Mr Obama's outreach efforts in Tokyo, Manila, Seoul and Kuala lumpur seem to have injected some much-needed positivity in Washington, DC's relations with the leadership in each of these capitals. In recent years, particularly since Mr Obama was voted back to office for a second term in 2012, American allies in Asia have felt distanced and neglected. They have been uneasy about the fact that a superpower that seems to be past its prime may not be able to stand up for them in times of crises. More specifically, they have worried that, with the US reluctant to take on a more dominant role on the world stage, they may be left to fend for themselves against a rising and increasingly hostile China. Indeed, America has maintained a studied silence on China's aggressive adventurism in disputed border territories. Most recently, it capitulated before Beijing when the latter unilaterally imposed an Air Defence Identification Zone in the East China Sea that threatens the sovereignty of Japan and South Korea. Tokyo and Seoul had taken a strong stand against China on this issue, but Washington did not walk with them, leaving the Asian powers disappointed. Japan, which has a defence agreement with the US, was especially upset. The Obama Administration has now made efforts at course-correction, but it is unclear if those are enough to pacify Tokyo. The high point of Mr Obama's tour, at least in terms of concrete deliverables, was undoubtedly in Manila where he signed a defence agreement with the Aquino Government. The Philippines is a long-time US ally but there have been no American bases in that country since the 1990s. The new pact, however, envisages a significant US military footprint in the island-nation. This, of course, has not gone unnoticed in China, which is involved in bitter territorial disputes which the Philippines.
On the trade front, only limited progress was made during the tour. Some were expecting that the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership may be finalised, but there is a still lot of work that needs to be done on that account. The TPP is a multi-nation free trade agreement of sorts that connects similar Asian countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam as well Australia and New Zealand to Western nations such as Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru and the US. It notably excludes China, which appeals to Asian powers concerned about the economic heft of the Middle Kingdom.
