US should make more positive contributions

Barack Obama arrived in Myanmar on Nov. 19, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the Asian country.

Certain media outlets take Obama's Asia trip immediately after reelection as an obvious sign of the eastward shift of US strategic focus and of a tougher stance against China.

Some of them even portrayed Obama's visit to Myanmar as a new attempt to contain China.

Their views are not unreasonable, but seem a bit biased. They are, intentionally or involuntarily, playing up the inharmonious factors in China-US relations.

The United States is shifting its strategic focus eastward because of the changing international political and economic landscapes as well as its desire of "always being number one."

The eastward shift of US strategic focus has four main purposes. The first purpose is to contain China and take advantage of China's rapid rise and various "China threat" theories to increase Asian countries' reliance on it.

The second purpose is to prevent estrangement with Japan and increase its control of Japan and other Asian allies.

The third purpose is to avoid being marginalized and take the lead in the development of free-trade areas in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fourth purpose is to trigger an arms race and increase the sales of its weapons.

The United States has repeatedly made high-profile but failed attempts to contain China. The Wall Street Journal recently said in a commentary that no countries around China would stand together with the United States against China. Certain insightful Americans know clearly that China's neighboring countries do not want to choose sides between the two big countries.

Aung San Suu Kyi, chairwoman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar, once told American leaders clearly that Myanmar would develop relations with China.

As for the China-India relationship most frequently attacked by the U.S. media, the Indian prime minister and foreign minister have mentioned the importance of improving relations with China at least five times since the beginning of the year, stressing that India must "develop relations with China and the United States simultaneously."

The United States is at a crossroads, and its ambition to "be number one forever" is beyond its abilities. With contradictory ideas in mind, it cannot help containing China, but has to cooperate with China at the same time.

Obama may rethink U.S. policy toward China after learning about East Asian countries' views of the United States and China-US relations during his second visit to the East Asia summit.

China does not oppose US presence in the Asia-Pacific region, and just hopes it can make more positive contributions.