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AsiaPacificPolicyRebalance|Erewise

AsiaPacificPolicyRebalance
18Dec2013 Comments(0)
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TOPICSINTHEARTICLE
TransPacificPartnership:
1.The2005TransPacificStrategicEconomicPartnershipAgreement(TPSEPorP4orTPP)isatrade
agreementamongBrunei,Chile,NewZealand,andSingapore.Itspurportedaimsaretofurtherliberalisethe
economiesoftheAsiaPacificregion.
2.LocationisinWellington,NewZealand.
3.Since2010,negotiationshavebeentakingplacefortheTransPacificPartnership(TPP),aproposalfora
significantlyexpandedversionofTPSEP.TheTPPisaproposedtradeagreementundernegotiationby(asof
August2013)Australia,Brunei,Chile,Canada,Japan,Malaysia,Mexico,NewZealand,Peru,Singapore,the
UnitedStates,andVietnam.
4.TheTPPisostensiblyintendedtobea"highstandard"agreementaimedatemergingtradeissuesinthe
21stcentury.Theseongoingnegotiationshavedrawncriticismandprotestfromthepublic,advocacygroups,
andelectedofficials,inpartduetothesecrecyofthenegotiations,theexpansivescopeoftheagreement,
andcontroversialclausesindraftsleakedtothepublic.
OriginandEvolutionofthepolicy
In2011,ObamaadministrationissuedandtookaseriesofstepsforplayingasignificantroleintheAsia
Pacificregioncitingitsimportance.
USAidentifiedthisregionasgeostrategicallyimportant.
Itcanbestudiedintwophases.
Whenthepolicywasfirstrolledoutin201112,muchoftheemphasiswasplacedonmilitaryinitiativesin
theregion.Chinadisapprovedoftheseinitiatives,andBeijingtookstepstodemonstrateitspowerin
maritimeterritorialdisputeswithU.S.allies.TheObamaadministrationadjusteditsapproachinlate2012,
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playingdownthesignificanceofmilitaryinitiatives,emphasizingeconomicanddiplomaticelements,and

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AsiaPacificPolicyRebalance|Erewise

callingforcloserU.S.engagementwithChina.
STRATEGICRATIONALEFORTHEREBALANCE
ChinasawthispolicysoastocontainChina.
ButthegoalsweremuchbroaderthanwhatChinaisclaiming.Itincludesstrategic,economicandpolitical
considerations.
AftermuchfocusonIraqandAfghanistan&adecadeofWarthere,Obamaadministrationisplacingmore
emphasisonNortheast,SoutheastandSouthAsiapartsoftheworldthatwillbeofgrowingstrategic
andeconomicimportanceinthefirsthalfofthe21stcentury.
Ingeostrategicterms,therebalanceistheObamaadministrationsgrandstrategyforU.S.foreignpolicy.
AlsothispolicyismeetingthegrowingconcernstrategicreassuranceinthewakeofassertiveChina.
ToreassureU.S.allies,friends,andothercountriesintheregionthattheUnitedStateshasnotbeen
exhaustedafteradecadeofwar,thatithasnotbeenweakenedbyeconomicandpoliticalproblemsathome,
andthatitisnotgoingtodisengagefromAsiaPacificaffairs.
ELEMENTSOFTHEREBALANCE
Itsamultidimensionalpolicyinitiative.
Inregionalterms,theshiftincludesastrongeremphasisonSoutheastAsiaandSouthAsiatocomplement
traditionallystrongAmericanattentiontoNortheastAsia.
Inpolicyterms,therebalanceentailsthreesetsofinitiativessecurity,economic,anddiplomaticelements.
Security:ChangesintheU.S.militaryforcestructurearehighlyvisibleandhaveattractedmuchattention.
Equippedwithmoderntechnologynewmilitaryhasbeendeployedinthisregion.Greatermilitaryintegration
withallies.
Economic:aimstoexpandbilateralandmultilateraleconomiccooperationbetweentheUnitedStatesand
theregion.MuchofthediscussionhasfocusedontheTransPacificPartnership(TPP),aproposedfree
tradeagreementthatpresentlyinvolvestheUnitedStatesand11othercountries,butdoesnotcurrently
includeChina.TheObamaadministrationhasalsobegunaprocesswhichwillincreaseforeignassistanceto
theAsiaPacificregionbysevenpercent.
Diplomatic:U.S.diplomaticactivismhasinvolvedstrengtheningU.S.alliancesbuildingdeeper
relationshipswithpartnerssuchasSingaporeandIndiadeepeningengagementwithmultilateralinstitutions
andmanagingtheU.S.Chinarelationship.
REGIONALRESPONSETOTHEREBALANCE
ChinaisnotparticularlyhappyabouttherebalanceofUSAsiarelations.
ChinasaysthatthispolicyisawayofcontainingChinainacoldwarstyle.
But,itisalsotruethatChineseofficialsarenowmorepositivetowardU.S.Chinamilitarycooperationthan
atanytimeduringtheObamaadministration.
Otherregionalpowershavetwopositions.
Position1:mostregionalpowershavebeenpubliclyorprivatelypleasedtoseethestrongerU.S.
commitmenttotheAsiaPacificregion.
Position2:regionalpowersarealsokeentoavoidhavingtochoosebetweentheUnitedStatesand
China.Theyverymuchwanttohavegoodrelationshipswithbothcountries.
CountrieslikePhilippines,Japan,SouthKorea,andSingaporehavebeenexceptionstothegenerally
mutedofficialreactionsintheregion.TheysupportUSinitiativeimmensely.
InthefaceofarisingandincreasinglyassertiveChina,manycountriesintheAsiaPacificregionhave
drawnonclassicbalanceofpowerthinkingandrebalancedtheirpositionsclosertothenonthreatening
greatpower.
INDIAANDTHISPOLICY
AllthisstartedwiththeunsuccessfulvisittoChinain2009byMr.Obama.
ChinaassertedthatWashingtonwasonthevergeofdecline&soChinawasnotinterestedtosolveworld
problemstogether.
Ifthispolicyhadbeendelayedinitsimplementation,wouldhaveweakenedU.S.alliancesinAsiaand
raisedthethreatofChina.
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Indiawelcomedtherebalance.
ButIndiahasbeencautioustopubliclyembracethenewinitiative.Butprivately,Indiahasencouraged
USAsinitiative.
ButiscautiousaboutChina,asitisthelargesttradingpartner&anengineforgrowthforIndiaaswellas
thedifferencebetweenmilitarymightofChinaissignificantlyincreasing.
UnambiguousChineseassertivenessontheIndiaChinaborderorinneighboringcountriescouldlead
DelhitoalignitselfmorecloselywiththeUS.
PROSPECTSOFUSCHINARELATIONSANDTHEASIAPACIFICREGION
Ahappyendingispossiblethoughnotguaranteed.
Thetwopowersnamely,China&USAcancoexistpeacefullyifthestrategicaspirationsarecompatible.
Bothcanbenefitfromoneself&togethersolvetheworldproblems.
Tofacilitateapositiveoutcome,itwouldbeadvisabletoencourageChinasparticipationintheTPP.
Economicinterdependenceisnotapanacea,butithasconflictdampeningbenefits.
ItwouldalsobeadvisabletoencourageChinasinvolvementinmoremilitarytomilitarydiscussionsand
cooperativesecurityendeavors.Transparencyisnotapanacea,butittoohasconflictdampeningbenefits.
Moregenerally,itwillbeadvisabletoencourageChinasintegrationintoregionalandglobalinstitutionsas
muchaspossible.

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