US President Barack Obama is now in Manila, the last stop of his Asia tour, after his visit to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia. This is Obama's first visit to the Philippines in more than six years since he took office in January 2009. He hopes to reiterate and reinforce the US "pivot to Asia" strategy that has been struggling to gain footing.

Against the background of a drastically changing geopolitical landscape in the Asia-Pacific region with growing Chinese influence, the US is keen to rally its Asian allies to maintain and promote its status as an Asia-Pacific country.

The Philippines is among the most aggressive claimants of the South China Sea, and Washington keeps reassuring this state, which is a stronghold on the "first island chain" around China.

Apart from counterbalancing an increasingly assertive China by intensifying strategic cooperation with and pledging economic assistance to China's surrounding countries, Washington also attempts to remold its image in the mind of its Asian allies, in particular when its European allies are losing confidence in the world's greatest power because of the Ukraine crisis.

Now that London is behaving half-heartedly, Paris and Berlin have shown reluctance to impose harsher sanctions against Moscow over its integration of Crimea, Obama intends to exhibit his firm commitment to reassuring all allied nations by aiding the Philippines, a treaty ally that is both economically and militarily backward.

Defense and security issues are dominating Obama's journey in Manila and economic concerns are another area on his agenda.

Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg on Monday morning signed a 10-year deal, allowing a bigger US military presence in the Philippines and better access of US troops to the country's military bases, ports and airfields.

The Philippines was once home to two of the largest US naval and air force bases outside the continental US territory till the early 1990s. Now in light of China's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, the White House is sparing no effort to beef up its military presence in one of the critical links around Beijing.

More than 100 left-wing activists demonstrated at the US embassy in Manila to oppose Obama's visit and the military accord on April 23, despite the expectations from the Philippine military, business sector and local media for more US military equipment including advanced ships and aircraft .But it should be noted that the small-scale protest is a routine affair and therefore Aquino's government is unlikely to pay special heed to it.

Also on the agenda for Obama's Manila visit is economic cooperation and financial assistance.

The New York Times commented that given the wide spectrum of security difficulties the US is facing in Asia, promoting trading collaboration might be the best way for Obama to build credibility in his "rebalancing toward Asia" policy.

There is no denying that economic interaction with its Asian partners will help increase the US capital export.

Nevertheless, for the Philippines enmeshed in long-term economic debilitation, the number of cooperation programs the White House will offer may be quite limited.

Manila is in no way comparable to Tokyo or Seoul, the most vital economic pillars among the US' Asian allies, a pragmatic Washington will not invest too much.

Obama's pledges of economic packages, if there are any, will be more a show than substantial assistance.

Consequently, the Philippines will get little practical interests except some psychological comfort from its US ally, since Obama also refrains from drawing another red line on possible military action against Beijing.

Washington has deliberately been scheming to attract Manila to its geopolitical game in the Southeast Asia in a bid to continue the territorial rows over the South China Sea and counterbalance China's rise.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Wang Xiaonan, based on an interview with Ji Qiufeng, professor of international relations at the School of History, Nanjing University. wangxiaonan@globaltimes.com.cn