国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

National

Regional

Taiwan, HK, Macao

Special Coverage

Focus

Society

Profiles

China's strengths in SE Asia to stay

By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-05 07:39

Beijing's presence in Southeast Asia is insulated from the United States' apparent renewal of interest in the region, experts said.

Related readings:  ASEAN-US meeting to discuss disaster control, flu prevention  E. Asia, ASEAN cooperate for common good  China, ASEAN sign MOUs to deepen cooperation  China increases preferential credit to ASEAN

The reaction from experts was made after Kurt Campbell, the US assistant state secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, said last week that US President Barack Obama plans to invite all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the US next year in a move to strengthen their relations.

The invitation will be an unprecedented one for a US president. A US-ASEAN meeting was first planned in 2007 in Singapore, but then US president George W. Bush canceled at the last minute due to a busy agenda.

Jin Canrong, deputy chief of the School of International Studies under Renmin University of China, said Washington is casting more attention on Southeast Asia because of China's rising role there. The US' interest is also spurred by its mediocre performances in fighting terror and on nuclear affairs in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Su Hao, director of China Foreign Affairs University's Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, said some of Washington's close allies in Southeast Asia are also calling for the US to return to "balance the impact of China".

"Just several days ago, Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew warned the US that it risks losing global leadership if it does not remain engaged in Asia to balance China's might," Su said. "It is quite surprising to hear a leader with a deep understanding of China to make such an appeal. But we have to realize that many countries in the region, such as Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, are allies or close friends with the US."

Su said there is no need for China to worry about a potential repositioning of the US in the region, as "such a balanced structure across the Pacific is not a bad thing".

"Besides, China is the major business partner of Southeast Asian countries. The irreplaceable status will not change merely due to the return of the US."

Campbell said Obama would officially announce the invitation during the upcoming US-ASEAN summit in Singapore, scheduled for Nov 15.

Topping the summit's agenda will be a review of relations between the US and the regional bloc in the past three decades, according to Thai newspaper the Nation, while the summit is also expected to discuss a free trade agreement.