"China plans to kick the U.S. out of Asia" has been a common theme of the US media in recent years, and it is a concern shared by many American officials and scholars.

The U.S. keeps a careful watch over China's diplomatic actions and policies, and is always concerned about any signs that China is scheming to 'kick it out of Asia'. The U.S. misunderstanding of China's 'Asia security concept' intensifies and reveals a sense of frustration, especially faced with China's strong stance on issues involving the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

China has indeed presented a positive and active diplomatic policy these past two years, successfully hosting the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, and other similar events.

The first thing to recognise is that China's primary focus is on Asian priorities such as common security. As far as China is concerned the US presence in Asia is a secondary issue, and 'weakening US influence' is nowhere near the top of China's agenda. Asians are best placed to understand their own needs, and have first right to make decisions of their regional issues. The U.S. is the most powerful external factor that plays a role in Asia's peace and stability. The question is what the U.S. thinks that role ought to be.

Secondly, China has every intention to be a firm safeguard of peace, cooperation and development in Asia. At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs, Chinese President Xi Jinping underscored the importance of peace, development and win-win cooperation. These principles can only act as a positive driving force in the wider world.

Third, it is entirely reasonable that China should safeguard its own territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and core interests. None of this has anything to do with 'fighting America'. China is fully committed to the road of peaceful development in protecting its rights and interests. And still the U.S. points the finger at China's over regional maritime disputes, imputing these maritime disputes to China's 'expansionism' and using this as a pretext to reinforce the position of its allies.

China welcomes the U.S. desire to play a role in Asia and make a positive contribution to Asian development. But the U.S. needs to engage in a little introspection about its policies towards China and Asia, rather than simply treating China as yet another potential rival. Trying to constrain China's management of Chinese issues around the shores of China by strengthening the U.S. relationship with its local allies is unlikely to bring any positive benefits to the U.S. or anyone else.

The article is edited and translated from《要被赶出亚洲？美国人多虑了》, source: People's Daily, author: Jia Xiudong