BARACK Obama's choice of the Asian Pacific for his first official visit after winning the November elections was no accident. He was very clear in stating that he considers the area to be of maximum priority for his administration.

He said in 2011 that the United States would play a more important role in Asia and, in the longer term, in shaping the area and in its future, and while he did not mention China, his intentions regarding that country were obvious. Since then his government has strengthened military cooperation with traditional allies such as South Korea and Australia, among others, in what he calls a "rebalancing strategy".

Last June, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that by 2020 the Pentagon would have deployed 60% of its naval fleet in Pacific waters, a move intended to contain Beijing's influence in the region, in a desperate attempt to reaffirm its superior status in the world, a move which some analysts say could lead to a new cold war.

The U.S. currently has more than 85,000 military personnel in the Asian Pacific. In Japan alone there are around 47,000 serving soldiers. However, these figures do not reflect soldiers dispersed in countries neighboring China, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The United States has a huge number of military bases on small Pacific islands, storage points for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. They are also used as testing sites and for and star wars experiments. It is almost a colonial tactic, consistent with its expansionist past.

During 2012, the U.S. used diplomatic means – what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calls "smart power" – to destabilize the region, taking advantage of certain tensions present at that time on the Korean Peninsula or territorial disputes between China and other Asian countries.

According to an editorial published in Diario del Pueblo, the U.S. has tried to provoke a distancing between China and the other countries around the South China Sea. These nations had signed an agreement in 2002 to resolve their differences via friendly bilateral accords, but the United States suddenly showed an interest in the issue, which could interfere with negotiations and destabilize the region.

On his recent tour of Asia, Obama visited Thailand and Myanmar, and attended the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cambodia. At each stop he spoke about closening ties. However, he did not miss the opportunity to advise as to how they should resolve difficulties regarding the sea, railing about human rights and demanding clear rules from Beijing regarding bilateral trade.

The majority of Asian governments make relationships with Washington a priority to different degrees and in line with their particular interests. Nevertheless, it was announced in Cambodia that in 2013, ASEAN and other regional actors would take the first steps towards creating what could become the largest free trade area in the world, and the U.S. was excluded.