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Experts: China Renewing Effort to Squelch US Influence in Southeast Asia

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - The Chinese defense chief's whirlwind tour of
   Southeast Asia this month will start to roll back growing U.S.
   influence in the region if China follows up with peaceful action,
   analysts believe.

   Defense Minister Wei Fenghe met his regional counterparts September 7
   to September 11 in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, a
   Chinese government website says. His visits coincided with a series of
   statements by U.S. officials criticizing Beijing's expansion in the
   South China Sea and U.S. commitments to protecting countries that feel
   slighted by China.

   Southeast Asian states have claims in the same waterway and say China,
   backed by stronger armed forces, has trespassed. China cites historical
   records to support its claims.

   Wei's trip was aimed first at sustaining China's relations around
   Southeast Asia, where governments may otherwise be tempted into a
   U.S.-led, anti-Chinese alliance, scholars say.

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