When the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.
Never did the old diplomatic wisecrack seem truer than it did on Friday when President Barack Obama cancelled plans to visit Asia and attend two summits in Bali and Brunei because of the government shutdown in Washington, DC. This was not just catching a cold; it was more like an outbreak of flu and the whole of Asia has taken note of America's condition.
In itself, the cancellation will not harm US interests in the short term - Secretary of State John Kerry will take the president's place at the summits - but in a part of the world where perception is everything, the move could open the door for China to expand its already powerful influence in Asia. It could also make an immediate impact on Obama's declared aim to switch the "pivot" of US foreign policy away from the Middle East and Afghanistan towards the Pacific rim to take advantage of lucrative trading deals and to reposition the US as an important and reliable regional player.
According to Ian Storey, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, the decision to cancel Obama's trip "projects the image that America is politically dysfunctional and fiscally irresponsible, and not as committed to Asia as the Obama administration would have us believe".
In stark contrast, China has taken the opportunity to project itself as a mature global superpower and the regional giant to whom all other Asian countries must turn. As an indication of China's willingness to grasp the moment ahead of the planned summits, president Xi Jinping travelled to Indonesia last week to address the country's parliament. More importantly, he signed a $15 billion deal that will lend much-needed support to Indonesia's ailing currency, the rupiah.
During the same trip, Xi also called in on Malaysia, China's largest regional trading partner, to meet prime minister Najib Razak and sign a raft of new commercial agreements.
All this sends a powerful signal that while the US appears to be in the economic doldrums and facing crisis, China is not only prospering but also calling the financial shots.
The diplomatic problem is complicated by the fact that Russian president Vladimir Putin was also scheduled to come to the summit in Bali and this would have given him an early opportunity to exchange views with Obama on the resolution of Syria's chemical weapons programme. The Kremlin expressed disappointment a meeting would not now take place.
Perhaps inevitably, Obama's tour cancellation has been met with some glee within China. The latest joke doing the rounds this weekend is that the US president pulled out of the trip because he could not afford the air fare and the cost of his hotel bills.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article