The U.S. isn't ignoring ASEAN

Felix Soh, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

As someone who enjoys long-distance running, it is natural for Robert Zoellick to go the distance when it comes to promoting America's interests.

The wiry U.S. Deputy Secretary of State is accustomed to living out of a suitcase as he shuttles from one country to another.

When he was working for the administration of Bush Senior, the Harvard-educated lawyer chalked up tens of thousands of frequent- flyer miles by traveling all over the world to promote U.S. global economic policy.

His latest shuttle, which ended in Singapore this week, was no exception. It saw him traversing six ASEAN countries in one week.

Zoellick is described as a "can-do" member of the Republican foreign policy elite who always keeps his eye on the prize -- American global hegemony and the interests of corporate America.

This was his focus as he embarked, on May 4, on his journey to Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- a trip which was billed by the Americans as "laying the foundation" for stronger U.S.-ASEAN ties in President George W. Bush's second term.

The Zoellick road show was an important signal from Washington that South-east Asia was not being ignored by the world's No. 1 superpower.

Under normal circumstances, Washington would have dispatched the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific. But this time, it sent big-caliber artillery.

Zoellick is not just the United States' second-ranking diplomat. He is also influential in his own right in political and economic circles.

He has close ties with the Bush family, having faithfully served both Bush Snr and Bush Jnr. He was adviser to the latter when he was governor of Texas and was his foreign policy adviser when he was running for the presidency.

At each ASEAN capital, Zoellick had access to all the top leaders. He was media friendly and media savvy. He held press conferences and roundtables where he delivered quotable, if not uncontroversial, soundbites.

Except for the inevitable swipe at Myanmar's ruling junta, there were none of the usual asides about human rights and reminders about democratic reforms that American officials are fond of.

At some pit stops, he even delivered more than soundbites. In Indonesia, he committed an additional US$73.7 million (S$120 million) in economic development aid. In tsunami-hit Aceh, he signed an agreement to build a $245 million road hugging the province's west coast.

However, when he wanted his comments to carry some sting, he did not hesitate to do so -- and did it quite masterfully, without appearing boorish or offensive.

For instance, when touching on Indonesia's disbursement of tsunami aid, which had come under criticism for being slow and susceptible to corrupt practices, he said: "The world's eyes are on Indonesia in the expenditure of funds. They have been extremely careful."

In Malaysia, where he was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit since 2002, an agreement was inked to extend by 10 years an arrangement allowing for the refueling of U.S. military aircraft as well as coordination of bilateral and multilateral emergency relief operations.

Significantly, he steered clear of contentious issues, such as joint anti-piracy patrols with the Malaysian Navy in the Malacca Strait, which Kuala Lumpur is steadfastly against.

There is no doubt that Zoellick's ASEAN swing was a display of aggressive diplomacy.

But coming just one week after Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Indonesia and the Philippines, it invariably raised the question of whether the U.S. was trying to play catch-up with China, which is on a charm offensive in the region.

In his stopovers in Indonesia and the Philippines, Zoellick was actually retracing a path already trodden by Hu, whose accomplishments during his visit to the two countries appeared to have had more impact and substance.

In Indonesia, Hu signed a strategic alliance which would increase bilateral trade from $14 billion to $20 billion. In the Philippines, he announced loans and investments worth $1.62 billion.

During Hu's visit to Indonesia, the possibility of China providing arms and military supplies to the country was also broached.

Indonesia's military cooperation with the U.S. is in limbo because of its armed forces' complicity in atrocities in the former East Timor and the killing of two Americans in Papua province.

Political commentators have pointed out that China has gained ground in Southeast Asia at the expense of the U.S., which was distracted by its war in Iraq.

Was Zoellick's visit aimed at recapturing strategic ground lost to Beijing? In an interview with The Straits Times, during the Singapore leg of his visit, he denied that China was a factor in his visit.

He said: "One should put my visit in context. At the start of President Bush's second term, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested that I should visit our friends. I've studied and worked in the ASEAN region for 30 years.

"The purpose of my visit is to listen and learn. I want to lay the foundation for stronger ties with ASEAN in President Bush's second term. I was pleased with the opportunity to reconnect with a number of Asian leaders and I benefited from hearing their ideas. In particular, I wanted to highlight the need to continue to have intense efforts against terrorism."

He was also asked to respond to comments that the U.S. would not countenance any challenge to its position as the No. 1 superpower and, as such, wanted to check the growing economic and political influence of China.

Said Zoellick: "The U.S. is a global power in economic and security terms. We have security treaties with many countries in the region. We also have strong military relationships with some of them, such as Singapore.

"It is entirely natural that China has grown and become more open in trade and finance. It will play a larger role in the region. It is wrong to suggest that this could be limited."

He added: "But there are different dimensions. For instance, the U.S. demonstrated during the Dec. 26 tsunami that no country has the same global reach in our humanitarian and reconstruction contribution. We donated aid worth $1.3 billion." In assessing Zoellick's carefully-planned trip, the conclusion is that it definitely succeeded in raising the U.S. profile in the region.

The ASEAN media gave his visit good coverage. A pity, though, that this was not the case with the American press, which was preoccupied with suicide bombings in Iraq and the North Korean nuclear issue.

Ultimately, it is not a bad thing for the ASEAN countries that the U.S. and China are vying for their attention, as long as it does not destabilize the region but gives a boost to its trade and economic development.

A variation on a Swahili proverb that is popular with politicians and diplomats during the Cold War era perhaps sums up the situation best.

According to the proverb, when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. When elephants make love, the grass also gets trampled.

For the region, the two elephants -- the U.S. and China -- are neither fighting nor making love. Instead, they are treading gingerly to ensure that as few blades of grass are crushed as possible.