Panetta's Asia-Pacific trip aids strategic pivot

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US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's weeklong visit to the Asia-Pacific region helped boost Washington's partners' military capabilities as part of a strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific, analysts said.

The trip, which concluded on Saturday, took Panetta to Japan, China and New Zealand.

It was his first visit to China and third trip to Asia since taking office in July 2011. He also became the first Pentagon chief to visit New Zealand since 1982.

The recent spate of visits by senior Washington officials to the Asia-Pacific, including Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, underlined the growing attention the US is paying toward the region as it pulls out of the Middle East, said analysts.

In Beijing, Panetta said the United States would play a constructive role in the Asia-Pacific region through strengthening cooperation and helping some countries to build up their defense capability, instead of establishing military bases.

During his visit to Japan, Tokyo and Washington agreed to install a second missile-defense radar system, and the MV-22 Osprey military aircraft was given the go-ahead to begin flight operations in Japan on Wednesday.

Panetta's calls for improved military ties and cooperation with China and New Zealand were welcomed, but concern remains about its shift in strategic focus to the region.

In Beijing, Panetta conducted "candid and frank discussions" with several senior officials, including Vice-President Xi Jinping.

Most meetings ran longer than scheduled as the two sides explored topics ranging from Taiwan to cyberspace, while the overarching topic was US-China relations in the context of the US strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region.

On Friday, Panetta announced Washington had lifted a 26-year-old ban on visits to US military ports by New Zealand's navy, but Wellington said it had no intention of reciprocating by allowing US ships to visit its bases.

New Zealand has a small military, and the rapprochement is unlikely to tilt the regional balance of power.

But the opportunity to rub noses was eagerly accepted by the Obama administration, which has been working feverishly to shower attention on just about every country with a Pacific coastline to counter China's rising influence in the region, said the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the US defense budget crunch will force the US navy and marine corps to lean on regional partners to establish a constant presence in the Pacific, according to the US magazine National Defense .

Panetta's trip also coincided with escalating tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over the Diaoyu Islands.

Days after Panetta urged both China and Japan to show restraint, Japan and the US on Saturday started an amphibious assault drill based on the scenario of retaking an island occupied by enemy forces.

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.