The Obama administration’s “strategic pivot” (or rebalancing of military forces) to East Asia has received considerable attention both in the region and in the United States over the past few years. With good reason, Chinese leaders wonder whether the pivot is the initial stage of a containment policy directed against their country. Other moves by Washington, including reviving the moribund U.S. military presence in the Philippines, strengthening the traditional bilateral alliances with Japan, South Korea, and Australia, and forging unprecedented security ties with Vietnam and other wary neighbors, have reinforced Chinese suspicions.