In Beijing, the U.S. pivot was derided as “this ill-thought-out policy of rebalancing,” and was portrayed as an American strategy to “contain” China, alienate its neighbors from Beijing, and prevent it from assuming its rightful role of predominance in Asia. In 2012, an influential article advised “marching west” to counterbalance America’s “rebalance” toward Asia and to blunt competition with the United States.
