US not asking Asia to ‘take sides’ – Pompeo

Anti-trafficking program

BANGKOK, Aug 1, (AP): US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that Washington isn’t asking any Asian nation to take sides as it engages with the region where China is battling for influence and aggressively expanding territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Pompeo hailed an Indo-Pacific engagement framework adopted by the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in June, saying it supports sovereignty, transparency, good governance and a rules-based order among other things.

US-China rivalry fueled by their trade disputes has put the 10-member bloc in a tight spot and the new framework is aimed at finding a middle ground to keep on the good side of both Washington and Beijing.

“Look, we don’t ever ask any Indo-Pacific nations to choose between countries. Our engagement in this region has not been and will not be a zero sum exercise. Our interests simply naturally converge with yours to our mutual benefit,” Pompeo said in a speech at an annual meeting with his ASEAN counterparts.

US relations with ASEAN are guided by a shared commitment to the fundamental rules of law, human rights and sustainable economic growth, he added.

Beijing attempts to project its influence globally through its “Belt and Road” initiative, an ambitious development program of major infrastructure projects, while Washington is promoting its own vision strategy for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, which Beijing regards as directed against it.

Despite Pompeo’s comments in Bangkok, he and other Trump administration officials have for months been raising the alarm about the dangers of allowing significant Russian and Chinese investment in their technology and infrastructure sectors.

On a tour of Europe earlier this year, Pompeo told Poland, Hungary and Britain among others to shun the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, warning that the US may be forced to limit intelligence cooperation with them if they go ahead with 5G projects run by the company. In Latin America, Pompeo and others have said Chinese development investment and assistance will come with a price, maintaining that the country seeks to enrich only itself with predatory practices.

Pompeo’s comments Thursday came a day after China warned outside nations against any attempt to sow discord between Beijing and ASEAN countries by playing up disputes over the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after talks with ASEAN countries on Wednesday that any differences can be resolved among the parties themselves. He also reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to conclude a Code of Conduct with ASEAN governing the South China Sea that will make the disputed region more stable.

China’s assertive territorial claims in the South China Sea, which carries a third of global shipping, has drawn rebuke from the United States and become a flashpoint for the region, with some sea features under overlapping claims by ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

Wang told reporters Thursday after talks with Pompeo on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings that they both exchanged views on how to advance bilateral ties “defined by coordination, cooperation and stability.”

“Secretary Pompeo made it very clear that neither President (Donald) Trump nor the US administration has the intention to contain China’s development. The United States hopes to see smooth progress in Sino-US economic and trade consultation,” he said.

Pompeo

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Australia on Thursday launched a new 80 million Australian dollars ($55 million) program to help Southeast Asian nations combat human trafficking.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the 10-year program was an extension of Canberra’s assistance to the region to tackle the menace in the last 15 years. She said Australia has helped train more than 13,000 judicial officials who bolstered their legal systems to fight human trafficking and ensure better protection for victims in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Payne said at the launch of the program with her ASEAN counterparts that the bloc has made progress with the 2015 launch of its own action plan to combat trafficking, especially in women and children, but deeper cooperation was required as the scale of the challenge remained “immense.”