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Still, Pompeo's Announcement, coming ahead of his trip to Southeast Asia, [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]
It signals "that smaller countries drawn to China's economic outreach can rely on the United States,"
"At this stage, it is difficult to see this initiative as an alternative to China's Belt and Road," echoed Chengxin Pan, Associate Professor at Australia's Deakin University
A year and a half ago, Washington's engagement with Asia was thrown into question by Trump's exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Since then, doubts have only grown, especially following Trump 's decision to slap tariffs on Asian allies
Monday' s news addresses those concerns, according to Brett McGonegal, chairman and chief executive officer of financial services firm Capital Link International. It's Washington's way of saying that "it has not actually lost Asia Pacific" and American leaders are "not walking away from the region," he said.
However, the US may still have more convincing to do.
Despite Pompeo's Positive Speech, "President of the United States," he was channeling President Trump's own views, "who is distinctly unorthodox," warned Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
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