Obama gets earful on Asian trip

It doesn't involve Russia, China or even the forces of communism, but Japan. The nation's new government is pulling away from the U.S. and telling officials in Washington what they can do with their policy ideas. At least that's the impression one gets reading the media these days.

Don't believe the hype. The theory that Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan is blowing off the U.S. is as fanciful as it is wrong. Those losing sleep over the state of this vital economic and security relationship aren't thinking through how much Hatoyama needs Barack Obama, and vice versa.

The U.S.-Japan dynamic is indeed changing. Yet think of it more as evolution than confrontation. This story is about more than Tokyo and Washington. It's about the rise of China and a vibrant region amid deepening U.S. troubles.

Look no further than Obama assuring Asia-Pacific leaders Sunday in Singapore that he'll take “serious steps” to reduce a US$1.42 trillion budget deficit that's spooking world markets. Japan holds US$731 billion of Treasuries, and the rest of Asia holds trillions more. The days of the U.S. lecturing Asia to emulate its policies are over. It's now about reassuring creditors that the largest economy won't let them down.

Neither, in the post-Lehman Brothers, post-Guantanamo Bay world, is the U.S.'s political clout what it once was. Ten years ago, a presidential visit to Asia was a show-stopper. Today, it often gets no more attention than Chinese leaders jetting in.

Obama wants to rebuild influence after eight years of neglect under George W. Bush. As he swings through Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul, Obama is promising broader engagement in a region where countries have been forging partnerships that don't include the U.S.

Many in Asia still want strong U.S. involvement as a counterweight to China, which next year may surpass Japan's economy. They just don't want the U.S. lecturing them.

“The size of China makes it impossible for the rest of Asia, including Japan and India, to match it in weight and capacity in about 20 to 30 years,” Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said in Washington last month. “So we need America to strike a balance.”

Those comments crystallized the thinking in many Asian capitals. China isn't just attracting much of the world's investment, but also getting much of the attention. Many observers have dropped the word “nascent” from descriptions of China as an economic superpower.

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