Isolationists Score While Hagel Scrambles To Maintain US Power; Lockheed To Furlough 3,000

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http://breakingdefense.com/2013/10/04/isolationists-score-while-pentagon-scrambles-to-maintain-us-influence-lockheed-to-furlough-3000/



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Isolationists Score While Hagel Scrambles To Maintain US Power; Lockheed To Furlough 3,000
By Colin Clark on October 04, 2013 at 3:01 PM

WASHINGTON: OK. That headline is deliberately provocative. But here’s the evidence. The president of the United States cancels an important trip to Asia — including the first visit by a president to the increasingly powerful state of Malaysia since 1966 — designed to help anchor our Pacific pivot. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping swept through the region — including Malaysia — unchallenged.

If you want some idea of how the Chinese view this, read this from the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong paper with close ties to the Chinese leadership:

“Analysts said the developments deal a potential blow to the Obama administration’s stated intention to concentrate more on Asia, where unease is rising over China’s growing might.

“‘Now, Xi has the floor to himself and it makes the US as a country, its political system and democracy look weak,’” said Ian Storey of Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ‘Meanwhile, China looks flush with cash and full of confidence, and it is relatively stable at home.’”