Washington to remain focused on Asia-Pacific

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A constructive US-China relationship is crucial to stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region as the United States will continue to focus on its relationship with countries in this region, analysts said on Sunday.

The US is increasingly an Asia-Pacific nation, said diplomat James F. Moriarty - a former senior director at the US National Security Council and one-time ambassador to Bangladesh and Nepal - at a panel discussion focused on US-Asia policy.

His remarks came on the second day of the three-day East-West Center's 15th biennial international alumni conference in Beijing.

Even after the US presidential election in November, when new people will take over key posts, including Secretary of State, US interests in the Asia-Pacific region won't change, Moriarty said. "They will come to the similar conclusion that the Asia-Pacific is more and more important," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will step down at the end of President Barack Obama's four-year term, even if Obama is re-elected.

US trade in the Asia-Pacific region was more than $320 billion in 2011, and two-thirds of foreign students in the US are from Asia.

The Asia-Pacific has become the largest source of immigrants to the US.

According to Reuters, Clinton said at the Pacific Islands Forum on Friday that the US will reinforce security partnerships across the Pacific as it strengthens ties with island nations, and also hopes to work more closely with China as Beijing expands its own influence in the region.

Clinton told the gathering that the US is in the region for the long haul, but she also played down growing perceptions of a US-China rivalry there, declaring "the Pacific is big enough for all of us" while dismissing the notion that expanded US activity in the region was "a hedge against particular countries".

Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, Hawaii, noted that Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula are the three areas that US-China relations should focus on for the sake of the stability of the region.

Satu Limaye, director of the East-West Center in Washington, outlined four challenges for the US in its pivot toward Asia, including how to sustain attention in this region and make multilateralism work and stretch all the way to the Asian subcontinent.

Although it's widely believed countries in this region depend on the US mainly for security, the countries actually have complex ties to its economy, too, Limaye said.

Limaye noted that the US should keep balance in its foreign policy, including its relationship with China, which should be "not too hot, not too cold".

About the broadcaster:

CJ Henderson is a foreign expert for China Daily's online culture department. CJ is a graduate of the University of Sydney where she completed a Bachelors degree in Media and Communications, Government and International Relations, and American Studies. CJ has four years of experience working across media platforms, including work for 21st Century Newspapers in Beijing, and a variety of media in Australia and the US.