US must rethink East Asia strategy
- Source: Global Times
- [01:58 July 22 2010]
- Comments
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two of the country's most influential officials when it comes to setting overseas policies, have been meeting their counterparts in South Korea.
They announced that their joint naval operations, originally planned for the Yellow Sea, will begin Sunday in the Sea of Japan.
The 97,000-ton aircraft carrier George Washington will join some 20 ships and more than 8,000 military personnel in the exercise in a move to "send a clear message to North Korea" following the sinking of a South Korean battleship in March.
This only reminds people of Washington's continuation of its Cold War mentality, with a stick in hand, and waving all over the place.
Each year, it conducts inumerous military drills in the western Pacific, including the seas off the east and south coasts of China, targeting imagined enemies in these regions.
It is understandable that the US designed the military maneuvering around the Korean Peninsula this summer to soothe anger in South Korea over the Cheonan incident that killed 46 sailors.
But what will really bring North Korea back from a military showdown with the South and the US is not bullying, but sincere dialogue.
By not insisting that the UN Security Council name North Korea as the culprit behind the Cheonan incident, the US did not lose anything, but won a chance to help East Asia walk out of the shadow of a new Cold War.
Wa s h i n g t o n might not have realized that today's East Asia is so much different from that of the last century. Peace and development have become the theme in the western Pacific.
This region has become the world's hottest belt of development and cultural exchanges. The US also has a huge share of trade in this area.
It is true that the western Pacific still needs the US military to keep the balance of power. But Washington should watch its desire to use power and not be fooled by some countries into com-mitting wrongs in the name of power balancing.
Aggressive show of force only creates enemies, and the US will risk getting mired in the abyss of a Cold War again. The world's only superpower should respect every member of this community by engaging in closer relations, not by always displaying force, which will only alienate itself from the Asian neighborhood.
If Washington could face the fact, the US will eventually become a real force of peace in the western Pacific, and Barack Obama's vow to embrace Asia will be welcomed by all Asian members.
