US can no longer deny China's rise

The announcement by Obama to provide more favourable visa terms for Chinese nationals visiting and staying in the US, and then declaring that this is "good for US jobs", falls woefully short of the sort of change needed in the US foreign policy for the Asia-Pacific to thrive, and thrive smoothly.

The US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership is a classic example of apparent American rhetoric; it is more of an oxymoron in terms of Asia-Pacific foreign policy. Apparently Obama "welcomes the rise of a prosperous, stable China". Yet he continues to exclude the major driver of growth in the region, if not the world, from participating in the TPP discussions. And he sticks to his position despite only 12 of the 21 APEC members having signed up to participate in the TPP since its inception in 2009.

Obama has to not only publicly accept the rise of China, but also appreciate its development. The US president should make it clear that China has a legitimate right to lead the Asia-Pacific region and map out the path toward the goal of economic integration and trade liberalization across the Pacific-Rim.

The TPP presents a perfect opportunity for the US to announce such a radical shift in its Asia-Pacific policy. In fact, a face-saving way of doing so is for the Americans to offer some sort of integration of the exclusive TPP with the now clearly inclusive China-led Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. The US needs to wake up to the fact that the world, especially the Asia-Pacific region, is no longer its playground.

In other words, the US has to accept that any Asia-Pacific economic integration process without the inclusion of China, and without China taking the lead, is a bit like The Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger.

The author is a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, and a senior lecturer in marketing at Southampton Solent University's School of Business, UK.