Asia's Power Surging at U.S. Expense

Trade ties with booming China and India offer weaker nations an alternative to depending on America for economy, protection.

WASHINGTON — As the Bush administration struggles to combat the threat of international terrorism, a far quieter force is challenging America's global influence: the growing economic clout of Asia.

Increasingly, other nations have become captivated by the reality, and the potential, of fast-developing commercial ties with the East. Suddenly, America is no longer the only guarantor of their economic viability or their political protector of choice.

One high-stakes example is unfolding at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. There, diplomats say, U.S.-backed efforts to pressure Iran to give up its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons have been complicated by Tehran's growing recognition of China, India and Japan as the key future markets for its oil and natural gas....

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In Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Central Asia, U.S. efforts to promote democratic reform have been blunted in part by the reality that America is no longer the only major buffer against Russia. Beijing has also become a player in the region. Once considered the stuff of fantasy, a vast pipeline running thousands of miles east to China from the rich Kazakh oil fields in the northern Caspian is under construction.

In South Korea, China has replaced the U.S. as Seoul's largest trading partner and its biggest foreign destination for capital investment. During six-nation talks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, South Korea has consistently lined up closer to positions set out by Beijing than by its alliance partner, Washington....