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dpa
Bangkok
The US does not expect South-East Asia “to choose” between it and chief rival China, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Singapore on Tuesday at the start of his first official trip to the region.
However Austin is expected to push back against Beijing’s growing influence during a visit meant “to deepen America’s bonds” with the “Indo-Pacific.” Austin will later this week visit the Philippines, a US ally, and Vietnam, a former foe, both of which have been at loggerheads with China for at least a decade over the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing’s claim to most of the sea “has no basis in international law” Austin said, speaking at an event hosted by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The Global Times, a Chinese state mouthpiece, claimed on Sunday that Austin’s trip was about hyping “the China threat,” scoffing that the US “has a relative shortage of capabilities and tools to influence South-East Asia.” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has raised concerns about South-East Asia potentially having to choose between the US and China, said he had “a good discussion” with Austin “on regional and international developments, as well as defence cooperation.” Austin’s trip is the first by a Biden Cabinet minister to South-East Asia but his second to the wider region, after he visited Japan, South Korea and India in March.
Bangkok
The US does not expect South-East Asia “to choose” between it and chief rival China, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Singapore on Tuesday at the start of his first official trip to the region.
However Austin is expected to push back against Beijing’s growing influence during a visit meant “to deepen America’s bonds” with the “Indo-Pacific.” Austin will later this week visit the Philippines, a US ally, and Vietnam, a former foe, both of which have been at loggerheads with China for at least a decade over the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing’s claim to most of the sea “has no basis in international law” Austin said, speaking at an event hosted by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The Global Times, a Chinese state mouthpiece, claimed on Sunday that Austin’s trip was about hyping “the China threat,” scoffing that the US “has a relative shortage of capabilities and tools to influence South-East Asia.” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has raised concerns about South-East Asia potentially having to choose between the US and China, said he had “a good discussion” with Austin “on regional and international developments, as well as defence cooperation.” Austin’s trip is the first by a Biden Cabinet minister to South-East Asia but his second to the wider region, after he visited Japan, South Korea and India in March.
