US stresses ties with old and new Asia-Pacific allies
Washington's lead envoy to E Asia cites 'complex' relations with China

Greg Torode, Chief Asia correspondent

Some 22 minutes into a 28-minute speech on the United States' engagement with Asia delivered in Hong Kong, Dr Kurt Campbell finally mentioned China in detail.

It was almost certainly no accident from the lead envoy to East Asia of US President Barack Obama's administration, a widely respected scholar and regional official at the Pentagon through the 1990s, as he outlined the need for a strong US presence and commitment across the region.

Anyone tempted to view the emerging Sino-US relationship through a prism of "G2" isolation would have been in for a shock on Monday night as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs first rattled through strategic relations with, and between, old allies - Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore - and newer friendships - India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Washington's relations with Seoul had never been better, he said. Australian ties were "extraordinarily strong and vibrant" while India's role was critical to the future of the region, and no other country in Southeast Asia wanted an improved relationship with the US more than its old enemy, Vietnam.

Campbell may have been speaking on the soil of Greater China, but even improved US ties with New Zealand rated a mention before he broached the "complexity" of the evolving relationship with Beijing. And when he did, the gushing tones with which he surveyed much of the region were replaced by measured nuance. "Obviously, the US is working hard to develop a stable and constructive partnership between the US and China," Campbell said as he addressed the second International Media Conference at Cyberport, an event organised by the University of Hong Kong and Hawaii's East-West Centre think tank.

"I think we all understand the challenges in this ? if you look at the history of relations we have had with major powers, nothing comes close to capturing the complexity of the China relationship," he said.

"If you look at the earlier period of the cold war, the US relationship with the Soviet Union was monochromatic, black and white.

"The relationship with China is much more complicated, extraordinarily diverse across a range of issues - from climate change to commercial matters to current issues associated with Iran and North Korea."

Reviewing months of re-engagement across the region - Campbell alone has visited 20 countries in nine months - he acknowledged that considerable progress in the China relationship had slipped in the wake of the announcement of fresh arms sales to Taiwan and the Dalai Lama's visit to Washington, both this year.

"My own view was that the relationship was probably not as good as some thought during the first year, and certainly not as bad as some diagnosed during the first part of this year," he said.

For all the challenges, there "was ballast in this ship that will allow us to get through some very stormy seas".

Specifically, however, he warned that the military and strategic relationship - currently frozen in the wake of Taiwan arms sales - was "lagging behind" and must be put on a more stable footing.

And in case anyone missed his point that Washington was determined to update the "traditional approach" of buttressing long-standing alliances and developing new friendships amid the rise of China, he finished by again couching Sino-US ties in the broader context of the region.

"There is a recognition that as an arriving power, the relationship between the US and China is closely watched," he said. "We believe that the best way for the US to go forward in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of China policy is not just engaging China, that good China policy involves engaging others in the region ? and there is a strong desire for a comprehensive dialogue throughout the region."

Campbell, of course, was singing from a well-thumbed hymn sheet, driving Obama policies of deeper regional engagement that date back to his earliest days on the campaign trail. For several years now, Democratic foreign policy analysts have detected the appetite across the region for a more engaged Washington to balance the rise of an increasingly assertive Beijing, particularly amid perceptions that the Bush administration took its eye off the region.

A foreign policy adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton during her failed primary campaign against then-fellow senator Obama, Campbell nonetheless maintained close connections with the eventual winning side and has had little trouble bringing those policies to life.

Making them work in troubled times appear to be another matter, however. Campbell revealed he encountered repeated doubts across the region about America's future economic might and its commitment to the region given the lingering demands of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some in the region, he insisted, wanted to see a return of America's faith in itself. "The most consequential step that we can take in the Asia Pacific region is to maintain a strong economy and a sense of confidence about ourselves and about the region going forward," he said.