US seeks new Asian 'pivot'

US seeks new Asian 'pivot'

A string of US presidents has spent the past 30 years proclaiming Washington's return to Asia. Now, President Barack Obama has decided to boost US presence in Asia the old fashioned way _ with military forces. Last weekend, at an under-played conference in Singapore, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta revealed more details of the evolving strategy. Then he went off for a visit to the US's new ally in the region, Vietnam.

The White House last year announced that US military policy was about to "pivot" away from its traditional emphasis on Europe and the Middle East. Under President Obama, the equivalent of a division of US Marines is being shifted out of Japan, but moved to Guam. More marines have been assigned to permanent duty in northern Australia. New agreements for port calls and repair facilities are being negotiated with the Philippines and Singapore. Within a couple of years, the number of US aircraft carrier task forces based in the East Asian region is to rise to six, up from the present total of zero.

Mr Obama's policy is described as evolution, rather than sudden change. And in some ways, this is true. Washington has consistently claimed that the United States is a Pacific nation. But the new US military posture represents a startling change from the prevailing mood in the first 35 years after the fall of Saigon to communist forces in 1975.

The end of the Vietnam war was a turning point. Thailand and the Philippines asked or ordered US forces to depart. The only major focus of US military attention in the region was Northeast Asia, where North Korea continues to pose a major threat. The Japanese pondered, then opposed, the presence of so many US forces on their soil; thus the marines's move to Guam.

Now Mr Obama has signed off on the so-called pivot policy. US military forces will again be a common sight throughout the region, including in and near the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. That is not to say things will revert to the bad old Vietnam War days, of course. US forces are not fighting, no war is under way or seriously threatened. And Mr Obama, Mr Panetta and the generals and admirals of the Pentagon are unanimous on the lack of desire for new US bases.

The pivot is, however, of great importance. First and foremost it affects China and its sometimes overbearing claims to virtually everything in the South China Sea. Vietnam, once a reluctant Beijing ally and then a victim of Chinese military invasion, has cheered the return of US gunboat power. It has made no secret of offering the US access to its waters and bases, including the US-built Cam Ranh Bay, featuring earlier this week on Mr Panetta's tour. The Philippines, involved in physical confrontation with China in the Spratly Islands, has mostly positive if mixed emotions about the return of the military ships of its former colonial master.

For Thailand, the pivot means a request by the Pentagon to use U-tapao naval air base as the centre of a new, regional headquarters for disaster relief. The government needs to closely study this idea. Assuming there is no hidden agenda, such as the establishment of a US military base, it could be an excellent addition to regional security.

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