US President Barack Obama arrives in Laos Tuesday following his time at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China. This is the first-ever visit to Laos by a sitting US president, signifying the growing importance Washington is attaching to the land-locked country and to ASEAN nations as a counterbalance to China's clout in the region.

The significance of the visit is evident. As Vientiane marks his final stop in Asia before Obama leaves office, the outgoing president is expected to use this trip to further his rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, burnishing his diplomatic legacy.

Obama came into office as avowedly "the first Pacific president." Convinced that the former George W. Bush administration had paid inadequate attention to Asian regional affairs, Obama shifted US diplomatic and military muscle from the strife-torn Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region, aiming to enhance his country's Asian engagement and contain China's growing influence.

During his eight-year tenure, Obama has spared no efforts in driving a wedge between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors and wrapping it in his own legacy. He has lifted a broad array of economic sanctions on Myanmar and announced a full annulment of the US arms embargo on Vietnam. Now, the president is seeking to alleviate old grudges with Laos, where the US dropped an estimated 2 million tons of munitions during the Vietnam War.

If Washington bases its rebalance to Asia strategy on disengaging relevant countries from China, it will go nowhere. The US should learn to accept the presence of China in Southeast Asia if it truly cares about regional stability and development. Over the past few years, China has strived to develop good neighborly and friendly relations with peripheral countries as well as fund regional development.

Along with the advancement of the "Belt and Road" initiative, and exploration of Japan and South Korea in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Plus Three group has grown into a closely-knit community with a complete industrial chain and market.

For example, the motorbike that Japan sells in Vietnam has many parts manufactured in China. For Washington, the best way to benefit is to be part of the chain, rather than dismantling it.

As Obama heads to Vientiane, hype is running high that the country is ready to tilt away from Beijing. It's narrow-minded that the West always interprets China-US influence in Southeast Asian countries from an either-or mentality.

If Obama wants his legacy to last, he should not base it on containment of China. Perhaps he should learn to respect the will of ASEAN countries first.