Beijing muted on US Asia-focused defence policy Some Chinese state media criticised Washington's new Asia-focused defence policy at the weekend, but it remained unclear whether this reflected a hardline response from Beijing to the strategy, political analysts said. In a rare Pentagon press conference, Barack Obama, US president, last week unveiled plans for a "smaller and leaner" military focused on potential threats from China and Iran, with reduced presence in Europe. Beijing has yet to issue any official reaction to the plan, but state media has carried some sharply critical commentary, especially in overseas editions. "Anyone with an inkling of strategy in their minds can easily see who the region's security "protector" is, who the "troublemaker" is for the region's security," said a commentary in People's Daily Overseas, a low circulation version of the Communist Party's official newspaper which is aimed at overseas Chinese. It echoed critical comments by Global Times, an English language publication that is also affiliated with People's Daily. Both reflect the views of some Chinese government leaders, but do not necessarily represent official government policy. Xinhua, the state news agency, had earlier published a relatively muted response to the Obama plan. Xinhua warned the US to "abstain from flexing its muscles" and avoid acting like "a bull in a china shop" but added that "if fulfilled with a positive attitude and free from a Cold War-style zero-sum mentality," the new US strategy would "not only be conducive to regional stability and prosperity, but be good for China, which needs a peaceful environment to continue its economic development." "I don't think we have a clear sense yet of what the leadership thinks," says Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing-based political analyst, pointing out that most domestic newspaper headlines in the past few days have been given over to coverage of the government's just-ended Financial Work Conference, rather than to foreign policy. The main focus of the government is on finance not on foreign policy, that's what the party media tells us . . . This is getting more play overseas than it is here," he said from Beijing. "We haven't heard from the Chinese leadership yet," says Jia Qingguo, associate dean of the school of international studies at Beijing University. "Global Times has published a lot of views that are not of the Chinese leadership and the overseas edition of People's Daily is trying to talk to a different audience than Chinese people in the country," he said. "There is no indication that this planned shift in strategy is making anyone here more anxious or angry than other similar announcements in the past," says Mr Moses. "People in Beijing are concerned about the change in the US defence posture," says Mr Jia, but adds that he thinks the development is not unexpected. It is natural for the US to attach more importance to the Asia Pacific region. It has an increased stake in the region, China is rising and the relationship between China and the US has become more important. It's too simple to say [the shift] is entirely targeted at China. The background of the US's policy shift reflects its domestic economic problems and the rise of Asia's economic power," says Professor Wang Yiwei, executive dean of the Institute of International and Public Affairs at Tongji University in Shanghai. Mr Obama did not mention China by name, but a strategy paper was blunter in describing potential military threats from Beijing, at one stage listing it alongside Iran as one of the principal challenges for the US. That comparison angered some Chinese commentators.