US profile dimmed at key meeting in China's traditional backyard

MANILA (AP) - Asia's largest security meeting has a notable absentee: Condoleezza Rice.

The U.S. secretary of state is foregoing this week's annual ASEAN Regional Forum to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt in yet another American effort to stabilize the situation in Iraq ahead of this September's key administration report to Congress on military and political conditions there.

Rice's decision to skip the Asian security meeting for a second year _ perceived by some in the region as a slight _ comes at a difficult time for American diplomats in Southeast Asia, already assaulted by complaints that Washington is turning its back on a part of the world that once stood near the top of its foreign policy agenda.

It also comes as China, the new megapower on the Southeast Asian block, is deepening its economic, cultural and military footprint in its traditional backyard.

China's emergence as a powerhouse in the region is all the more impressive because of its difficult history there. As recently as the 1980s ethnic Chinese minorities in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia were often viewed as fifth columnists for Beijing, tasked by rapacious communist masters to either spread Marxist doctrine, steal local wealth, or subvert local governments.

Not anymore.

China is now regarded as a viable regional partner, widely respected for its growing commercial, cultural and military clout. Other countries want to develop potentially lucrative markets there and use its cheap labor.

Over the past seven years, China's trade with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has more than doubled, even as its cultural impact has spread, bolstered by a series of Chinese-sponsored centers designed to teach the Chinese language and inculcate Chinese values.

Beijing also has poured billions of dollars (euros) into the development of its navy, providing an important military dimension to its commercial and cultural push.

"China's influence has certainly increased throughout Southeast Asia over the past two decades," said Benito Lim, who teaches Chinese studies at the Philippines' Ateneo de Manila. "This is particularly true in the areas of trade and investment, where it is really very strong."

In contrast, many see the United States as just treading water in the area due to its continuing preoccupation with Iraq, Afghanistan and the perennially crisis-ridden Middle East peace process.

American trade with ASEAN has barely grown since 2000. And even if cultural hallmarks like mass-market Hollywood films still have a powerful resonance, deep skepticism about the shrillness of American political preaching has considerably dampened their cachet.

"It's clear that the administration has not been paying sufficient attention to Southeast Asia," said area specialist Kit Collier of Australia National University in Canberra. "It's understandable, mainly because of the war in Iraq, but it's still unfortunate."

Still, American influence does seem to be growing faster than Beijing's in some ASEAN countries. One is old enemy Vietnam, which just last month sent its president on a groundbreaking visit to Washington.

With Rice in the Middle East, the United States will be represented at this week's ASEAN meetings by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, an old Asia hand.

Spokesman Matthew Lussenhop of the U.S. Embassy in Manila said Negroponte's presence was a clear indication that the United States still remains committed to an active relationship with ASEAN countries.

"We are certainly looking forward to very productive meetings both bilaterally with the Philippines and also in the regional context," he said. "For us, this is a very important event."