Against a backdrop of China’s rising economic and military power, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the Thai capital of Bangkok this week with a difficult mission: Try to win back lost ground in Southeast Asia, a region once dominated by the U.S.
Against a backdrop of China’s rising economic and military power, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo arrived in the Thai capital of Bangkok this week with a difficult mission: Try to win back lost ground in Southeast Asia, a region once dominated by the U.S.
“Our engagement in this region has not been and will not be a zero-sum exercise,” Pompeo added. “Our interests simply naturally converge with yours to our mutual benefit.”Pompeo is also attempting to solidify another initiative of his tenure: creation of the so-called Indo-Pacific region, which portends to redraw boundaries to stretch from the U.S. West Coast to Japan, down through Southeast Asia to Australia and west across another ocean to India.
The South China Sea is a case in point. China has steadily built up and is militarizing the sea’s scattered islands and shoals, which other nations also claim. The maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing have roiled the region. Apart from Vietnam, no country in the region has agreed to join the U.S. boycott of Huawei, despite the Trump administration’s warnings that the U.S. could cease sharing sensitive information with countries that use the company’s technology.
“On whatever issue you want to point to…there’s almost none in which the U.S. is advancing its interests in the region at a faster pace than China,” Zawacki said.Here in Bangkok, Pompeo’s Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, appeared as conciliatory as America’s top diplomat. After the two held a 30-minute bilateral meeting, Wang emerged to say that “no matter how many problems, it is important for both sides to sit down and have face-to-face discussions.
Over the last decade, and particularly since the coup, Thailand has expanded military relations with China, conducting joint exercises with every branch of the People’s Liberation Army and increasing weapons purchases from China.
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