The United
States has started to engage deeply in Asia-Pacific region for several decades
since the World War II, and it was the most and significant power that played
the role of buffer between China and Japan to stabilize the region In this
region, the presence of the U.S. has been sustained by provide the support to
those allies countries and even forward it base in Countries like Japan, South
Korea, and Philippine (The Asia Foundation,
2008). Imagine if the U.S. withdraw its military base and its
involvement from those Asia-Pacific countries, China will become a sole power
in the region and Chinese military sure will claim over the dispute area even
Taiwan as well, so the U.S. has an important role to keep the balance of power
for stability in the region (Wasi, 2001). We could not ignore the role of the
U.S. because the U.S. might be one of the most important actors that help
shaping this region.
Economically, the United States
was one of the major economic power that has provide a lot of aids for some
Asia-Pacific countries for development including Japan, South Korea,
Philippine, Indonesia, and etc. In addition, the U.S also an important market
for some countries in the region especially Japan and China which export a lot
of products to the U.S market. The act of involving in the Asia-Pacific region
was to keep China in check because without support from the U.S, the other
state would be overwhelmed by the China which was one of the major powers
inside the region (Tang, n.d.). These Asia-Pacific countries seen this as a
great opportunity and did take advantage to foster their economic growth to
maximize such Japan and South Korea. The fast development of some Asia-Pacific
countries had also provide benefit to it neighbor as well. For instance, Korea
and Japan multination cooperation will invest and affiliate it product in
developing countries because the labor force were cheaper. The part and
component of some goods will produce in developing country in Asia-Pacific such
as Vietnam, Indonesia, and etc. As a result, those developing countries surely
get benefit when there are leading role in economic like Japan and South Korea.
The role of the U.S. in Asia-Pacific region seems very important for economic
view because it has direct impact and indirect impact to the development of the
region (Tang, n.d. & Sutter, Brown, & Adamson,2013). However, the
intervention from the U.S. was not a help at all in some case like Malaysia case
during financial crisis. The U.S. did provide a lot of aids to it close allies
while the other countries like Malaysia can get the aid only if Malaysia agree
to reform its policy. It was very crucial during the crisis the U.S. didn’t
provide good solution to the region but the challenge during that time (The Asia Foundation, 2008).
Politically, the
U.S. foreign policy always focus to Asia-Pacific region and it keep injecting
its legitimacy according to its interest. The U.S join membership in most of
the institute and organization in Asia-Pacific which make it harder for
Asia-Pacific countries in decision-making without influence from the U.S’s
policy. Furthermore, The United States had spent billions of dollars on
military balance in Asia-Pacific especially the last decade, and this might be
a big threat to the region. There are six main major Asia-Pacific countries
that the U.S. focuses their military strategy on including Japan, South Korea,
Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippine and India, and among the seven
countries, there are four countries which the U.S. has set up their military
base (Tang, n.d., & Dormandy, & Kinane,
2014). The U.S. kept increasing their military spending in Asia-Pacific
due to the rise of China. Geographically, these seven countries are likely
surrounding the China maritime strategy, and it must make China feel very
uncomfortable. Some scholar said that China keep increasing military capacity
because China got pressure from the U.S. that put military strategic around
China. In the Asia-Pacific region, China had dispute with it neighbor like
Japan over Senkaku Island and Philippine, Vietnam, Taiwan over South China Sea
(2014). The dispute over this area had
never been fully solved, and if the situation become more serious; the U.S.’s
allies will ask for the involvement from the U.S. in the dispute and that might
make the situation more tension. However, the U.S. did not just keep balance
the power with China, the U.S. also try keep Northeast Asia safe from the
threat from North Korea which always try to invade the South Korea because
North Korea was one of the nuclear power country (The
Asia Foundation , 2008).
Tang, X. (n.d.). The Future role of the United States in the
Asia-Pacific region: Dead end or crossroad? Retrieved from: http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/246066/Tang.pdf.
The Asia Foundation (2008). America’s role in Asia:
Asian and American views. U.S.A.: The Asia Foundation. Retrieved from:
www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/AmericasRoleinAsia2008.pdf
Wasi,
N. (2001). Security in Asia-Pacific region. Pakistan Horizon, 54 (3),
29-43. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41394001
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