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US Vice President Mike Pence Speaks at a Meeting with ASEAN Leaders at the ASEAN-US Summit in Singapore on November 15, 2018. REUTERS / Edgar Su
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday to leaders of Southeast Asian countries that there was no room for "the empire." and "aggression" in the Indo-Pacific region, comment that could be broadly interpreted as a reference to the rise of China.
Mr. Pence did not mention China at the opening of a summit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, but stressed that small and large countries should be allowed to prosper in the Indo-Pacific.
"Like you, we seek an Indo-Pacific in which all nations, large and small, can prosper and prosper – safely in our sovereignty, in our trust in our values and in strengthening together," he said. declared. "We all agree that the empire and the aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific."
He added that Washington has taken steps to promote this vision, including encouraging private investment in infrastructure and pursuing "free, fair and reciprocal" trade.
The vice president also highlighted the US-led "pressure campaign" on North Korea, its "commitment to defend the freedom of the seas and the skies" and its determination to ensure the security of the nations of the world. 39 South-East Asia at their sovereign borders, on land and on the outside. sea in the digital world.
Pence's comments follow an important speech in October in which he denounced Washington's harsher approach to Beijing, accusing China of "malicious attempts" to undermine US President Donald Trump and reckless military actions in the South China Sea.
The United States has conducted a series of "freedom of navigation" exercises in the disputed South China Sea, angering Beijing, which claims that these movements threaten its sovereignty.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam are challenging China's claims in the South China Sea, which transits annually some $ 3 trillion worth of shipping trade.
Beijing and Washington are facing a trade war in which they have imposed increasingly stringent tariffs on their respective imports.
Report by John Chalmers; Edited by Michael Perry
