So after messing in iraq and the so called war against terrorism, the USA wants now to mess up in Asia again S1000+
Obama said today: "We must strengthen our economic recovery, and pursue growth that is both balanced and sustained," he said. "We simply cannot return to the same cycles of boom and bust that led us into a global recession." He said the US would pursue a new economic strategy that would mean "saving more and spending less". He urged Asian leaders to break their dependence on exports to the US market and to open up their markets to speed up a global economic recovery. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8360083.stm singapore pm said today : "The United States needs to borrow less and save more," said Mr Lee, "and that means somebody else in the world has to save a little bit less and spend a little bit more. And if you look at where the imbalances are it means countries like China, where savings are high, have to make some adjustments." That points to another more subtle rebalancing in the region - the shifting balance of power between the United States and China. China syndromeChina has been steadily building its business interests and political ties, especially in South-East Asia. "China has been very active in the region, cultivating countries and making friends and influencing people" said Mr Lee. And as China was quietly extending its influence, the United States was preoccupied with Iraq, Afghanistan and the so-called War on Terror. In effect America took its eye off the Asian ball, as the Singaporean prime minister acknowledged. "The tilling of the ground, the cultivation of the relationships in South-East Asia particularly has not been given as much attention as we would have preferred," he said. But now the United States says it's back and wants to reengage with Asia. President Barack Obama is making his first trip to the region, visiting Japan, China and South Korea on either side of the Apec summit. Some are predicting a new era of Sino-American rivalry, with smaller nations in Asia left to play one off against the other or forced to choose sides. Yet the Singaporean prime minister cautioned against a confrontational approach. "We want a peaceful, constructive rivalry," he said. "If there's a rift down the middle of the Pacific there would be trouble for all of us ... including America and China." That also seems to be the view from Washington. The senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council, Jeffrey Bader, told reporters recently: "I don't see this relationship as a zero-sum one. We see it as a relationship where we're obviously going to have differences, where we are going to be competitors in certain respects. But we want to maximise areas where we can work together because the global challenges we face will simply not be met if we don't." There is another arena where Washington's new approach may be in evidence in Singapore. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8358124.stm ======= S1000+ ======= --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
