FLASH
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Just as the much-discussed US strategic shift to Asia was beginning to gather momentum, the Middle East like a vortex pulled Washington back into its orbit.
The shift in US interest in Gaza has worried the country's allies in the Asia and Indian Ocean region about the slow pace of US policy aimed at curbing Chinese influence.
"What worries us the most is the channeling of American military equipment to Europe and the Middle East, instead of East Asia.
I hope these conflicts will end soon," Akisa Nagashima, a Japanese lawmaker and former national security adviser, said last week.
US military commanders insist that bases in Asia have not been stripped of weapons or personnel, while Defense Secretaries and US Secretaries of State Lloyd Austin and Anthony Blinken will travel separately to Asia this week to give assurances to India, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia.
One question for these countries is how Washington will manage to meet all of its defense commitments when it is engaged in two active wars.
The gun issue is a common concern. The US defense industry is struggling to cope with shortages of munitions destined for Ukraine and Israel.
Japan, Taiwan and Australia are expected to experience delays in receiving military equipment agreed to by the US.
"Our soldiers must be trained to operate the new systems. Will the US have the operational capabilities to deal with China?” said Taiwan's former defense minister, Andrew Nien Yang.
Sudden changes in US foreign policy in Asia are not a new phenomenon.
Vietnam is the most prominent example, as was the presidency of George W. Bush in the 2000s.
In his campaign appearances, Bush said: “When I am elected, China will no longer have doubts about our strength and determination in its region. A month after the 9/11 attacks, Bush traveled to Beijing to meet with then-president Jiang Zemin.
Avoiding any strategic rivalry between the two countries, the American president had only talked about the fight against terrorism and bilateral trade relations.
In India, the fallout from Bush's shift from Asia to the war on terror has been dire, with the war in Afghanistan bringing Washington closer to the country's main enemy, Pakistan.
Some Indian analysts now predict that Biden will seek a new shift towards the Middle East, taking advantage of his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in San Francisco in November.
For Japan and other US partners in Asia, the war in Gaza threatens to disrupt the flow of oil to their industries, compounding their already existing economic problems.
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