China Plots Its Own Asia 'Pivot'

Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington man the rails as the ship pulls out of Hong Kong after a five-day port visit, in this U.S. Navy handout file photo from November 14, 2011. Credit: Reuters/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Erin Devenberg/Handout via Reuters

With One Eye On Washington, China Plots Its Own Asia 'Pivot' -- Ben Blanchard, Reuters

(Reuters) - The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50 billion Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolving Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington's "pivot" to the region.

While Chinese leaders have not given the government's growing list of initiatives a label or said they had an overall purpose, Chinese experts and diplomats said Beijing appeared set on shaping Asia's security and financial architecture more to its liking.

"China is trying to work out its own counterbalance strategy," said Sun Zhe, director of the Centre for U.S.-China Relations at Beijing's Tsinghua University and who has advised China's government on its foreign policy.

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My Comment: The problem with this pivot is that every Asian country knows that China is now in an expansionist phase .... with the Chinese going out of their way to arbitrary draw maritime borders, to refuse to negotiate on land borders, and when pressed to use their military and their economic influence to get their way. In short .... the Chinese are "pissing-off" everyone with their refusal to compromise while (at the same time) trying to develop closer diplomatic ties with these countries. This is not a formula for success.