The United States is no longer the only country whose opinion can have decisive influence on Asia-Pacific countries’ policies. China can take on the US here, said the experts polled during the 10th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. They also said that Russia’s presence in the region should grow.

       The United States is no longer the only country whose opinion can have decisive influence on Asia-Pacific countries’ policies. China can take on the US here, said the experts polled during the 10th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. They also said that Russia’s presence in the region should grow.

       China looks set to become the leading power in Asia Pacific

       The United States has lost its leading position in the region, said Professor Huang Jing from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (LKYSPP), and Director of the Center on Asia and Globalization (CAG).

       He said the United States 100% dominated the Asia-Pacific region ten years ago when the Asian countries tallied their policies to suit Washington, but now the situation has changed.

       “China is becoming the center of economic power in the region and the largest trade partner of nearly all countries, including Japan, South Korea and the United States. So there is now a second yardstick, a Chinese one, for gauging developments in the region,” Huang Jing said.

       His Indian colleague, Ambassador Prabhat Prakash Shukla, Joint Director of the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi, India, shares this view on China’s exclusive role. He said that China would very likely become the leading global power in 25-30 years.

       Russia as part of Asia Pacific

       Viktor Larin, Director of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East at the Russian Academy of Sciences and a professor of the Far Eastern Federal University, said Russia understands that its presence in the region needs to be strengthened. He said that definite steps are being taken towards this goal, and even if they are mostly symbolic, they are nevertheless necessary.

       Mr. Larin continued by saying that one of the biggest obstacles hindering Russia from strengthening its position in Asia was the mentality of a titular nation which had always looked towards the West. “It is very difficult to overcome this inertia,” the professor told RIA Novosti, adding that another major barrier was the exceptionally high price of developing Siberia and the Russian Far East.

       This notwithstanding, Asia needs Russia not only as a source of energy, but also as a moderator or arbiter of regional disputes, Mr. Larin believes.

       Ambassador Yukio Satoh, Vice Chairman of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), said that until recently Russia was only part of the Asia-Pacific community, but now it needs to expand and strengthen its economic stand.

       The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most rapidly developing areas, but maintaining its high economic performance will not be easy, said Jomo Kwame Sundaram, FAO Assistant Director-General for Economic and Social Development.

       RIA Novosti

       Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.