Deeply engaged in Asia, says US after Trump skips key meet
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross insisted Monday that his country remained "extremely engaged" with Asia despite Donald Trump skipping a regional leaders summit.
Ross and US national security advisor Robert O'Brien are the most senior members of the Washington delegation in Bangkok for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, also attended by Indian, South Korean and Japanese leaders.
Previous meetings have been attended by the president or vice president.
Trump is accused of retreating from the region after pulling out of a major AsiaPacific trade pact almost immediately after taking office.
But Ross pushed back against criticism that America has turned its back on Asian allies.
"The Trump administration is extremely engaged in and fully committed to this region," he said at a business forum on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting Monday.
"We continue to negotiate trade deals with countries in this region." At the USASEAN meeting later in the day, O'Brien addressed several Southeast Asian foreign ministers after some leaders failed to turn up.
Only the leaders of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos were in attendance, a departure from earlier ASEAN meetings over the weekend that heads-of-state were present for.
Trump has railed against countries in Asia for building massive trade surpluses with the US and has vowed to pursue bilateral deals in the region in favour of sprawling pacts.