POMPEO TO PRESENT US ‘INDO-PACIFIC’ POLICY AT KEY ASEAN MEET
SINGAPORE— US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will have a hard time pushing US President Donald Trump’s $113-million “Indo-Pacific” policy when he comes to Southeast Asia this week, analysts said Thursday.
“Southeast Asian capitals are more worried about any blowback effects for them of US-China trade tension than they are about how much they can benefit from this $113 million initiative,” said Malcolm Cook, senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Pompeo itinerary
After a brief meeting with new Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur, Pompeo will fly to Singapore for a sit-down with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Friday.
“We are all acutely aware of the storm clouds of trade war,” Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said at the opening of an Asean foreign ministers meeting on Thursday.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said earlier this year that a trade war would have a “big, negative impact” on the country.
Pompeo will also travel to Indonesia during his trip—Southeast Asia’s biggest economy which under Trump faces losing some of the trade preferences given by Washington.
Officials around the region are cautious about Pompeo’s visit and analysts said it might be due to the region’s doubts on US proposals in the past.
The result was that across Asia, more and more countries were pulled into China’s orbit: softening their stance on territorial disputes in the South China Sea and borrowing billions of dollars from Beijing to develop infrastructure.
’Pivot to China’
The Philippines, the United States’ oldest ally in the region, is one example of a country which has taken a more conciliatory approach to China despite a bitter history of disputes over maritime sovereignty.
Another old ally, Thailand, has also been perceived to have moved closer to China after Bangkok sought a “balanced approach” after US criticisms of its military government.