USA - US keeps an eagle eye on Asia

Washington’s foreign policy needs to pivot away from the Middle East and towards the Asia-Pacific, says US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.

In an exclusive interview with The Australian, he says: “One of the most important challenges for US foreign policy is to effect a transition from the immediate and vexing challenges of the Middle East to the long-term and deeply consequential issues in Asia.”

Few officials would put the choice so starkly. Campbell is not suggesting that the US neglect its responsibilities in the Middle East. But his comments reflect a desire, widespread across the Obama administration, to deepen and widen US engagement in Asia.

Campbell has found that the economic troubles of the US have meant that he has to project a more basic message to Asia: that the US is in Asia to stay, and that its security and economic commitments in Asia remain as strong as ever.

“When we travelled through Asia, before and after the ASEAN regional forum, it became clear that what a lot of Asians were interested in hearing about was the continued effectiveness and relevance of the United States,” Campbell says.

Campbell believes the US will recover from its present economic problems and that reports of US decline are vastly overblown.

The broader question is whether the US in particular, and the West in general, are seen as declining powers in Asia.

Mike Green, a former Asia director at the National Security Council under president George W. Bush, and now a professor at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, thinks that, outside Beijing, this view of Western decline is not widespread in Asia. But, he says: “There is a feeling
in Beijing that’s palpable that the West is in rapid decline and that China’s century of humiliation is over.”

Last year there was a string of maritime incidents in which Chinese naval and commercial vessels challenged or harassed US, Japanese, Vietnamese and other southeast Asian vessels in international waters. They were deliberate provocations and tests by the Chinese to see how far they could push their
neighbours, particularly Japan and Vietnam.

“There is an undeniable assertive quality to Chinese foreign policy and we’re seeing that play out in the South China Sea and elsewhere, ” Campbell says.

Campbell does not see, or present, US diplomacy in Asia as a zero sum game between Washington and Beijing. And the US is taking a wide array of measures to enhance its own many-layered dialogues with China. But at the same time it is deepening its relations with China’s neighbours.

“I think what you see is an across-the-board effort (by the US) to articulate India as playing a greater role in Asia, and also revitalising relations with ASEAN — both ASEAN as an institution, and with its key members, such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, and revitalising what used to be a very important relationship with The Philippines.”

Campbell, a great champion of the US-Australian alliance, believes it is a central part of the Asia-Pacific architecture and that it is growing more significant to both nations.

“The US-Australia alliance is undeniably more important. It requires more attention; it’s stronger and more durable than ever. I’m certain it is moving to become a more intimate alliance.”

But Green thinks Australia should stand up to China with more assertiveness. China itself is assertive in pressing its interests in all forums, and creates international strategic dialogues without any worries about how these might be seen by other nations. It is also increasingly active in the South Pacific.

Campbell has made it a personal mission to revive US activism in the South Pacific, and recently led a US delegation around the region.

“This is your backyard,” he says. “The US does have deep strategic interests in the South Pacific. We do see increased Chinese activity. We welcome it so long as it’s transparent and constructive.”

The Australian

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