Our friends in the East If China believed that its new ascendancy would draw allies into its orbit, events in Burma will have come as an unwelcome surprise. Instead of reinforcing their alliance with the aspiring superpower to the north, Burma's leaders have chosen to rebuild ties with the West: yesterday, William Hague became the first Foreign Secretary since Anthony Eden to pay an official visit. The scale of President Thein Sein's about-turn has exceeded all expectations. In the past three months alone, this former pillar of a military regime has released hundreds of political prisoners and allowed the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, to become a legal opposition party. His motives are complex, but rebalancing Burma's relationship with China is clearly among them. Continuing down their previous path would have sealed the generals" isolation from the West, and rendered their country almost wholly dependent on Chinese aid and investment. Put bluntly, Burma would have risked becoming an economic colony of its giant neighbour. In retrospect, the president's remarkable decision to prevent China building a £2.3 billion hydroelectric dam last September was a crucial signal of his intent. Burma's willingness to tilt towards the West symbolises a worrying trend for China. In a vast arc stretching from India to South Korea, every one of its neighbours has shown a suspicion of China and a new willingness to strengthen ties with the US: hence Beijing's determination to sustain North Korea's vile regime. President Obama has responded to these concerns by rethinking America's defence policy, and focusing its military might towards the Pacific. Beijing's strategists should be self-critical enough to ask why China's rise has prompted such jitters.