Tillerson tries to firm up relations in southeast Asia
LUMPUR, Malaysia — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson paid visits to Thailand and Malaysia on Tuesday, in an effort to shore up relations with two of America’s Southeast Asian allies and urge them to maintain pressure on North Korea.
Tillerson flew to Bangkok from the Philippines, where he had met with his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at an annual regional gathering that focused heavily on North Korea’s push to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
He became the top U.S. official to visit Thailand since the nation’s military seized power from an elected civilian government three years ago, causing relations with the U.S. to sour.
Thailand has long been one of Washington’s closest regional allies, but relations have been strained over U.S. criticism of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s repression of critics and failure to restore democracy. However, President Trump’s administration has made human rights less of a priority than did its predecessors.
Thailand, like other Southeast Asian countries, has also been cultivating closer ties with China, causing consternation in Washington. The Thai position has been seen as both a rebuke to Washington and an accommodation to Beijing’s aggressive carrot-andstick diplomacy, which includes both the blanKUALA dishment of massive infrastructure development projects linking the region and intimidation through naval moves to promote Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Malaysia’s relations with the U.S. had warmed after Prime Minister Najib Najib took office in 2009, following decades of periodic distrust. But Najib has increasingly leaned toward China, which had become Malaysia’s biggest trading partner.