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The second Asean-United States leaders' summit on Sept. 24 in New York may have conveyed the impression of an emerging alliance.
To be sure, after years of keeping a low profile on Southeast Asian problems, the United States is more engaged than ever. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton angered Beijing by taking a public position supporting Association of Southeast Asian Nations efforts to seek peaceful resolution of territorial disputes with China through multilateral diplomacy and for status of the South China Sea as a "maritime commons" rather than a territorial sea.
The image of Chinese expansion and US resistance has been reinforced by events to the immediate north in the East China Sea, after a Chinese fishing boat rammed a Japanese Coast Guard vessel off the disputed Senkaku-Diaoyu islands. China demanded release of the arrested captain, reparations and an apology from Tokyo.
Japan agreed to the release, but declared acquiescence to the latter two demands "unthinkable." Japan has been bolstered by Clinton's assertion that Japanese "administration" of the islands falls under the purview of the US-Japan Security Treaty and Defense Secretary Robert Gates' terse observation that the US "would fulfill our alliance obligations."
However, it would be a mistake to construe the New York summit as the beginning of a new Asian-American alliance against China. Despite anxieties about China's growing power, no Asean countries would be willing to put their money where their mouths are. Suddenly the US is seen as standing athwart Chinese strategic ambitions in Southeast Asia – with Asean governments apparently lining up in support of Washington against Beijing.
More at:
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2723&Itemid=367
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