White House fine-tunes Asia pivot to 'quench fire'_美文

White House fine-tunes Asia pivot to 'quench fire'

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Washington is dispatching two diplomats to East Asia to fine-tune the US pivot to Asia-Pacific by "quenching the fire" between China and Japan, after recent provocative moves by Tokyo that have further threatened regional stability, observers said.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns left Washington on Sunday for South Korea, China and Japan, while Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, begins his East Asian trip on Monday.

Burns and Russel will meet in Beijing on Wednesday for bilateral talks with government officials. Russel will separately lead the Asia-Pacific Consultations and hold other bilateral meetings with his Chinese counterparts during his stay, according to the US State Department.

Experts said that mediating strained ties and encouraging dialogue among Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo are at the top of the diplomats' agendas. Washington's increased intervention is an effort to relieve tensions in Northeast Asia, they said.

"The US has been viewing China as a country of global influence and seeking to coordinate with China on a broad range of topics, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula," said Li Haidong, a researcher of American studies at China Foreign Affairs University.

The two US diplomats will try to promote dialogue between Beijing and Tokyo to demonstrate its "positive presence" in the region,but Japan will not be the only issue talked about.