There has been considerable commentary of late questioning the seriousness and sustainability of the so-called American pivot or rebalance to Asia. Mush of this breathless handwringing is overwrought, but the public questioning reflects growing anxieties across an increasingly uncertain region and should be taken seriously. There are challenges almost everywhere one looks along with a clear appetite for a sustained and coherent US approach to Asia. The Obama team is intimately aware of these swirling concerns and Barack Obama’s recent visit to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia reflects a manifest effort to translate more the rhetoric of the pivot into concrete reality.
最近有不少評論質疑美國所謂「轉向亞洲」或「再平衡」戰略的嚴肅性和可持續性。這些讓人應接不暇的焦慮言論有不少屬於緊張過度，但公衆的質疑反映出，在亞洲這個不確定性漸增的地區，各國的憂慮情緒越來越強，因此這些質疑應當引起重視。放眼看去，那些明確渴望美國建立持久、連貫亞洲戰略的國家，幾乎無一不存在挑戰。歐巴馬(Obama)的班子深刻認識到了這些紛亂的問題，這位美國總統近期出訪日本、南韓、菲律賓和馬來西亞，就反映出美國正積極努力將「轉向」戰略更多地從空談變成現實。