But the real challenge for Obama is to do more to explain what the “pivot” means, because already his bold side trip to the unfinished project in Myanmar is being perceived as yet another effort to contain or, worse, encircle China. What began as a strategic shift to an area of the world replete with long-term US interests has become – even to many anxious Americans – an exercise in picking new fights with a country of 1.3 billion people undergoing painful internal transformations of its own.
但奥巴马真正的挑战是进一步解释“中心”的意思，因为他专门抽出时间前往改革未竟的缅甸的安排被视为是遏制甚至包围中国的又一举动。对这个美国利益极大的地区的战略变化已经演变成对拥有13亿人口、正在经历其自身痛苦内部转型的大国的开战新宣言，即使对于许多焦急的美国人来说也是如此。