High on hype, low on expectations

US President Barack Obama's four-nation East Asian tour from Wednesday is aimed at pushing forward Washington's "pivot to Asia" policy. First, his visits to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines show the US is determined to consolidate its military presence and use its diplomatic power to ensure the success of the policy.

The past year has seen the US taking several measures to further its "rebalancing" to Asia strategy, especially after the Ukraine crisis that has brought it in direct confrontation with Russia, a rare occurrence since the end of the Cold War.

Of course, some American observers say Russia is using the US' "rebalancing" strategy, which has forced Washington to divert attention from Europe, to expand its sphere of influence in Europe. Therefore, they say, the US needs to shift its focus to Europe. But such voices seem to have drowned in the rising sound wave of so-called American experts on Asia, who say the US should see a rising China as its biggest rival and, hence, stay focused on its "rebalancing" strategy.