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Hong Kong (CNN) -- After his party's drubbing in the midterm elections, President Barack Obama will wade into a mass of foreign policy challenges during his trip to Asia this week.

Obama made America's pivot to Asia a centerpiece of his foreign policy architecture. But some commentators say the President, beset by crises elsewhere, has failed to put words into action.

"The Asia pivot remains more rhetoric than reality," said CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "Having promised a larger U.S. military presence in the Philippines, Singapore and Australia, there is little evidence of any of this on the ground."

Obama's first stop on his trip takes him to Beijing, where the greater U.S. focus on Asia is viewed with deep suspicion.

"Two prevailing sentiments -- perceived U.S.-led containment of China and the threat posed to America by China's growing economic and military strength -- have set the two major powers on a confrontational course," said Cheng Li, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Obama is in Beijing from Monday for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, but he will also hold direct meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where sensitive issues like cybersecurity will be on the agenda.

"To put this crucial bilateral relationship back on track, President Obama and President Xi must use the summit in Beijing to deepen mutual understanding and publicly challenge these misperceptions," Li said in comments published by Brookings.

Myanmar reforms 'sliding backwards'

After China, Obama will travel to Myanmar, a country where, two years ago, he became the first sitting U.S. President to visit. There was much fanfare then about the introduction of political reforms after decades of oppressive military rule.

Continued here:
Obama kicks off Asia trip

When President Obama arrives in Beijing on Monday for his first visit since 2009, Chinese President Xi Jinping will welcome him with all the pomp of a state visit. That evening, fireworks will open a meeting of Asia Pacific leaders.

But there is little to celebrate. In the 18 months since Obama and Xi first met at the Sunnylands resort in California where they ate a meal by celebrity chef Bobby Flay and raised a toast of Chinese liquor China and the United States have confronted each other over Asian security, territorial claims, economic cyberespionage and U.S. opposition to Chinas proposal for a new Asian infrastructure bank.

Beneath those issues lie larger questions of how the United States adjusts to a more prosperous and outward-looking China and whether Chinas rise bumps up against the United States and its allies in the Pacific or whether all nations will benefit.

The atmospherics in Beijing leading up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit could be better. A string of nasty articles about foreign forces has appeared recently on blogs and in the state-run media, coloring the political atmosphere. Barely four weeks ago, at a meeting about the political role of arts and culture, Xi warmly shook hands with anti-American blogger Zhou Xiaoping, whose posting Shattered Dreams in America railed on a greedy and oppressive economic system.

Despite the strains, officials on both sides are working to make this summit a success. Steps to slow climate change a priority for Obama and Chinese alarmed by choking pollution offer the most likely area for progress.

There has been a flurry of preparation recently, including a visit by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi to Secretary of State John F. Kerrys Boston home and a visit by Obamas chief of staff, John Podesta, and the State Departments top climate negotiator, Todd Stern, to Beijing. National security adviser Susan E. Rice made her first visit to China in September, pressing Xi and other top officials to aid international efforts to combat Ebola and the Islamic State.

And the Obama administration has also been restrained in its comments about the massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, saying only that it hopes issues can be resolved peacefully, without endorsing the goals of the demonstrators.

U.S. officials once hoped that Obama and Xi could establish a personal bond that would make agreement easier. Since Sunnylands, Xi has strengthened his hand in China through an anti-corruption campaign that has sidelined several powerful rivals, while Obamas domestic stature has sagged under the weight of foreign crises and lingering economic discontent even as the economy rebounds.

But both sides still hope they can push forward.

Xi and Chinese might see President Obama not a strong leader in the U.S., because of the midterm election outcome and because of his nice personality, said Chu Shulong, a professor of political science and international affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing. But the Chinese still think he can be a strong leader in foreign policy and relations, especially when he can do little in domestic areas in the next two years.

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Obama, Xi to meet in Beijing amid political and economic strains

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