Pompeo rips into China, urges ASEAN to trust in US

America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo on Friday implored Southeast Asian nations to trust in US values, delivering a withering takedown of Chinese-style development, comments Beijing later swatted away as "meaningless".

The secretary of state said decades of US alliances and investment had helped Asia walk from poverty to prosperity, as he aired the Trump administration's "Indo-Pacific" strategy in Bangkok.

From supporting state-led enterprises to disputes over contested territories, Pompeo took aim at China's actions and motivations in Southeast Asia, rowing back on comments on Thursday in which he told regional diplomats they were not expected to "choose" sides between the superpowers.

"Our investments don't serve a government.... (they) don't serve a political party," he said of the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing considers Southeast Asia as its "neighbourhood" where its economic, political and military might has given it primacy, with massive infrastructure and investment schemes striating the region.

But smaller powers also accuse China of loading on debt as well as aggression in the disputed South China Sea where a military build-up threatens the claims of several nations to strategically crucial waters.

The US wants the South China Sea, one of the world's most important shipping lanes, to remain open.

Serving up a sharp rebuke on China's drive into Southeast Asia, Pompeo said: "We're not building roads to pave over your national sovereignty... We don't fund bridges to close gaps of loyalty."

His speech came hours after President Donald Trump promised to slap 10 percent tariffs on a further $300 billion of Chinese goods in a sharp escalation of the trade war between the two superpowers.

"China has taken advantage of trade... It's time for that to stop," Pompeo said during a panel afterwards, accusing Beijing of proetctionism and "predatory tactics."

Pompeo is in Bangkok to attend the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting.

Earlier in the week China's top diplomat, who is also in Bangkok, warned the US against trying to "sow distrust" between the regional superpower and Southeast Asian nations.

Replying to Pompeo's comments in Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said "positive momentum" had in fact been made in relations between China and its nieghbours in Bangkok.

That included on a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea, she said.

But Hua added that "high-ranking officials in the United States attempt to provoke discord".

"It's really meaningless to play such games every year," Hua said, calling on the US to come up with a "responsible attitude as the world's top power."

Pompeo says US not asking ASEAN allies to 'choose' on China
Bangkok (AFP) Aug 1, 2019 - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted Thursday that Washington was not asking Southeast Asian nations to "choose" between his country and rival power China, as he trailed a rebooted security and trade strategy at a Bangkok summit.

The denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, a bitter trade war between the superpowers and open access to contested seas dominated talks between Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asia's top diplomats.

In comments on Thursday evening Pompeo urged the 10-members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to continue "to speak out against Chinese coercion in South China Sea".

That was a reference to the Chinese military build-up in the disputed sea.

Pompeo is in Bangkok wielding a message of reassurance to Asian allies that the US remains a key power in the region, despite China cementing its economic and political primacy over an area it regards as its backyard.

The US-China rivalry is framed by a trade war that has cramped global growth and seeded uncertainty across Asia's economies.

Pompeo and Wang held brief talks, both later playing down the rift between their nations, with Wang describing the meeting as a "deep communication" that "helped to increase our mutual understanding".

"There may be various kinds of issues and problems between China and the United States," he said.

"But no matter how many problems... we all need to sit down and continue to communicate."

In a tweet Pompeo said he had "an in-depth exchange of views" with Wang -- including on North Korea -- adding "when it advances U.S. interests, we are ready to cooperate with China".

Pompeo also insisted the US was not prodding Southeast Asian nations to "choose between countries".

"Our engagement in this region has not been and will not be a zero-sum exercise," he said in short remarks at the opening of a meeting with the 10-member ASEAN states.

China on Thursday said it had begun buying more US farm goods, a day after trade negotiations resumed in Shanghai in a bid to find a way through the tit-for-tat tariff war.

- Beijing's orbit -

Among the tension points with China is the South China Sea, an area Beijing believes to be its orbit and outside the US sphere of influence.

China is accused of deploying warships, militarising outposts and ramming fishing vessels in contested waters, one of the world's key shipping routes and which the US is desperate to keep open.

The US wants guarantees of open seas and has offered its support to several of the claimant nations in the face of Chinese aggression.

Washington has been closely following reports that Cambodia has struck a deal allowing China to use a strategically key naval base with ready access to the South China Sea.

But in his meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers, Pompeo said Cambodia had strongly refuted the claim.

The administration of President Donald Trump, which early on pulled out from a massive Asia-Pacific trade pact, is pushing an "Indo-Pacific" strategy of bilateral commercial deals and security support for the region.

China rebuffs US intentions in the region and is the driving force behind a separate trade-pact which sweeps in Southeast Asia.

On Wednesday Wang described Southeast Asia as China's "neighbourhood" and in a barely concealed swipe at the US urged "non-regional countries" to not "sow distrust" in the area.

US-led efforts to tease North Korea into ending its nuclear ambitions were also covered in discussions, with Beijing's leading diplomat welcoming the high-visibility summits between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un.

But Pompeo expressed "regret" that his North Korean counterpart was not at the Bangkok summit for further talks but said he was optimistic fresh discussions were on the horizon.

On Friday, America's top diplomat will meet his South Korean and Japanese counterparts hoping to help defuse a bitter diplomatic row between two key US allies that has billowed out into a trade dispute.

The issue has its roots a decades-long quarrel over Japanese forced labour during World War II.

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Pompeo says US not asking ASEAN allies to 'choose' on China
Bangkok (AFP) Aug 1, 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted Thursday that Washington was not asking Southeast Asian nations to "choose" between his country and rival power China, as he trailed a rebooted security and trade strategy at a Bangkok summit. The denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, a bitter trade war between the superpowers and open access to contested seas dominated talks between Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asia's top diplomats. Pompeo is ... read more