US should make more positive contributions

Barack Obama arrived in Myanmar on Nov. 19, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Asian country.

Certain media outlets take Obama’s Asia trip immediately after reelection as an obvious sign of the eastward shift of U.S. strategic focus and of a tougher stance against China.

Some of them even portrayed Obama’s visit to Myanmar as a new attempt to contain China.

Their views are not unreasonable, but seem a bit biased. They are, intentionally or involuntarily, playing up the inharmonious factors in China-U.S. relations.

The United States is shifting its strategic focus eastward because of the changing international political and economic landscapes as well as its desire of “always being number one.”

The eastward shift of U.S. strategic focus has four main purposes. The first purpose is to contain China and take advantage of China’s rapid rise and various “China threat” theories to increase Asian countries’ reliance on it.

The second purpose is to prevent estrangement with Japan and increase its control of Japan and other Asian allies.

The third purpose is to avoid being marginalized and take the lead in the development of free-trade areas in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fourth purpose is to trigger an arms race and increase the sales of its weapons.