Obama's Asian pivot leaves closer ties, new challenges

BEIJING (AP) -- As Barack Obama embarks on what is likely to be his final trip to Asia as president, attention is returning to what is known as the U.S. ``pivot'' to the continent launched during his first term.
 
The policy adjustment aimed to reinforce alliances and shift military assets to a region that has grown in importance alongside the rise of China as a global economic and political power. A look at some of the impacts on different countries in the Asia-Pacific region:

CHINA: KEY ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP MEETS REGIONAL RIVALRY
 
The U.S. shift of focus to Asia has been driven by China's emergence as a global force and America's rival in the region. Such frictions have persisted despite an economic relationship that has seen the world's largest economies and biggest military spenders amass two-way trade of more than $600 billion in 2015.
 
On the military side, the U.S. pivot chiefly involves the reassignment of 60 percent of the Navy fleet to Asia, the rotation of Marines through Australia and stronger cooperation with the Philippines, mainly as a response to China's robust assertions of its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea.
 
China has strongly criticized the U.S. approach and pressed ahead with island-building including airstrips, harbors and other infrastructure of potential military use. The U.S. has refused to recognize the new features as islands with sovereign rights and has repeatedly sent warships and planes near them in freedom of navigation missions.
 
Farther north in the East China Sea, the U.S. has ignored China's declaration of an aircraft defense identification zone that encompasses islands controlled by American treaty partner Japan. South Korea's plan to deploy an American missile defense system has also aroused China's ire, sending relations between Seoul and Beijing to their lowest level in years.
 
China is also the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, and by some estimates, Chinese foreign direct investment into the U.S. has started to outstrip the flow of U.S. investment into China.

PHILIPPINES: A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP
 
The American pivot to Asia coincided with increasing Philippine insecurity over China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
 
The symbiosis sparked an upswing in relations under former President Benigno Aquino III at the same time as ties with Beijing strained after Chinese ships seized the disputed Scarborough Shoal in 2012. The antagonism worsened when Aquino's government sued China the following year before an international arbitration tribunal over contested territories.
 
In 2014, the long-time treaty allies signed a defense pact allowing American forces to temporarily base in designated Philippine military camps. In July this year, the tribunal invalidated China's vast claims but Beijing dismissed the ruling as a sham.
 
By then, Aquino has been succeeded by Rodrigo Duterte, who made known his dislike for U.S. policies and its ambassador and announced he will chart an independent foreign policy not dependent on Manila's former colonizer. While there hasn't been a sign that he will roll back defense cooperation with the U.S., Duterte has also refrained from pressing China to comply with the arbitration ruling and has cozied up publicly to Beijing.

AUSTRALIA: U.S. ALLY WITHIN CHINA'S ECONOMIC ORBIT
 
Australia and the U.S. have increased their military cooperation as part of the pivot, with American Marines now rotating through a training hub in the northern port city of Darwin. Meanwhile, an Australian army general was appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Army Pacific contingent.
 
At the same time, Canberra remains strongly committed to its economic relationship with China. While China's economic slowdown has reduced its demand for Australian iron ore and other commodities, Chinese companies remain keen investors in the Australian economy. Wealthy Chinese also spend heavily on Australian higher education, vacations and real estate.
 
The balance between economic and security interests has not always been easy to maintain. Australia has been supportive of the U.S. freedom of navigation exercises in disputed areas of the South China Sea, and has regularly sent its own air force patrols over the region, drawing anger from Beijing. Yet Australian public opinion remains strongly in favor of close ties with China.

JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA: KEY ALLIES DESPITE HISTORICAL DIFFERENCES
 
Relations between South Korea and Japan, two key U.S. allies in Asia, have seen numerous setbacks in past decades due to bitter rows over history. It appeared the ties had sunk to one of their lowest ebbs following the 2012 inauguration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who, by taking a more hawkish and nationalistic stance, raised suspicions in Seoul that he was trying to obscure Japan's brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
 
The Obama administration grew increasingly frustrated about the poor relations between its allies, which together host about 80,000 U.S. troops and are critical to Washington's plans to better deal with a rising China and North Korean threats. 
 
The U.S. worked behind the scenes to bring together Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye for a summit with Obama in March 2014. It resulted in the opening of talks between South Korea and Japan over resolving the issue of South Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military in World War II.
 
In October 2015, on the sidelines of a trilateral summit that also included China, Park and Abe met for the first formal talks in more than three years. South Korea and Japan two months later reached an agreement for Japan to provide 1 billion yen ($9.9 million) to a South Korean foundation established to help support former sex slaves.

JAPAN: NEWLY ASSERTIVE U.S. ALLY IN NORTHEAST ASIA 
 
Like South Korea, Japan is host to a large U.S. military presence, numbering about 50,000 troops at present, and has a formal mutual protection alliance with Washington.
 
There are concerns in Japan about the U.S. commitment to its defense in light of U.S. budget constraints and war fatigue after Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, there are questions over what the U.S. would do if China were to attempt to seize control of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that both countries claim.
 
Obama and other senior U.S. officials have tamped down those concerns somewhat by publicly reiterating that the U.S. is treaty-bound to defend Japan.
 
Despite China's strong objections, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also pushed through contentious legislation to loosen post-World War II restrictions on the Japanese military to allow Japan to contribute more to regional defense. Japan has also deepened its security ties with Australia and Southeast Asia.

INDIA: STRENGTHENED TIES WITH AN EYE TO CHINA'S RISE
 
India has seen a major boost in its economic and defense ties with the United States at a time when both countries share concern about China's rise. The two sides reached a landmark civilian nuclear agreement in 2008, which allowed India to access sensitive technologies and fuels despite never signing the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
 
The two countries' leaders have established warm relations, even as some U.S. lawmakers have criticized the record of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on religious tolerance. Obama has visited India twice and even attended the country's annual Republic Day military parade. Modi has traveled four times to the U.S. since taking office in 2014.
 
India fought a brief but bloody war with China in 1962 and their mutual border remains in dispute. Like most countries, however, India is reliant on its trade with China and wishes to avoid any moves that might spark a crisis with its northern neighbor.

VIETNAM: U.S. PIVOT BRINGS FORMER ENEMIES CLOSER
 
While negative opinions toward the U.S. remain among Vietnam's communist old guard, ties have advanced enormously since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995. Obama's Asian pivot has dovetailed conveniently with Vietnam's desire to build relations with powerful allies as a counterweight to China's influence.
 
Obama's personal touch has also given relations a big boost, particularly his May visit that was accompanied by a lifting of a ban on the sale of lethal weapons.
 
``The Vietnam-US relations have seen long steps forward over the past 21 years from former foes to friends and from friends to partners,'' said Tran Viet Thai, deputy director of the Institute of Strategic Studies at Vietnam's Foreign Ministry.
 
Although Vietnam continues to buy Russian military equipment and seeks stable ties with China, it views the U.S. as a positive force in its development, Tran said.