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writing for godot

Obama in Southeast Asia: Responding to the Rise of China

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Written by LHolland   
Monday, 21 November 2011 09:08
President Obama’s recent decision to increase military strength in Southeast Asia should be seen in the context of the administration’s overall policy in the region. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that China has achieved significant economic advantages through “unfair” practices in the international economy. In the last decade, we have lost tens of thousands of factories, defused important industrial technologies, and now owe over a trillion dollars to China due in part to its predatory strategies. In response, the Obama administration has steadily pushed China to increase its demand for US products and allow its currency to fluctuate more to reduce its external surplus.

Improving our position with China requires much more than mere diplomatic endeavor, however. Much of China’s burgeoning economic strength has come by projecting power in different parts of the world – Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Accordingly, military spending in China has increased threefold since the 1990s.

This increase has facilitated the Chinese pursuit of oil, gas, minerals and timber in Burma and the strengthening of military rule in that country. In addition, China’s drive for fish stocks and oil has led it to claim over 90 percent of the South China Sea, in contradiction to international law. This has included deploying naval security vessels to disrupt survey activities in the territorial waters of other countries. In addition, a massive expansion in Public Security has made it possible to crack down hard on criticism at home.

In contrast to other parts of the world and other times in history, US help is actually wanted in East Asia today. The Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and other countries in the region all seek US assistance to combat these developments. For the US, forging new trade agreements, participating in regional organizations, and deploying troops in the region all help to strengthen alliances with countries along China’s perimeter. More importantly, they allow the US to increase exports in the region and thereby regain an economic advantage with respect to China.

In addition, this positioning allows US leaders to boldly advocate for human rights in China in a way we have not for many years. Prominent artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei, and others have called on the west to rebuke the practice of false accusation, arrest without charge, the increasing use of secret prisons, and widespread monitoring of private activities in China. Seizing the moment, Obama has called for support for “the universal human rights of the Chinese people” and around the world. The President also spoke by phone with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, and Secretary of State Clinton will visit that country in December, part of a two-year human rights effort.

This sort of human rights diplomacy as well as the chance to get China to “play fair” in the international economy, can only be only possible if the US maintains a strong presence in the region.
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